Sisi and Biden Discuss Gaza Ceasefire, GERD Dispute

Arab World

May 25th, 4:46am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the opening ceremony of floating bridges and tunnel projects executed under the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt May 5. Reuters

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Joe Biden discussed Monday the Cairo-brokered Gaza ceasefire as well as the ongoing mega-dam dispute with Ethiopia, the Egyptian presidency said. For the second time in less than a week, both presidents discussed "international efforts to rebuild Gaza and providing urgent humanitarian assistance" to the blockaded enclave, the presidency said in a statement. Last week, Sisi pledged $500 million to help reconstruction efforts in Gaza, which was pummeled by Israeli strikes for 11 days. The truce between Israel and Hamas that came into force last Friday was diplomatically engineered by Egypt, which has sent two delegations to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Territories to keep watch over the ceasefire's implementation. Biden also expressed his administration's willingness to put "the situation in the Palestinian Territories back to normal". He said his administration would work "with international partners in supporting the Palestinian Authority and reconstruction efforts”. The call comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to head to the Middle East for a regional tour, including a Cairo stop. Both leaders also talked about Egypt's "water security", as it remains mired in a decade-long deadlock with Ethiopia over its mega-dam project. Ethiopia's construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile has sparked fears in downstream countries Egypt and Sudan, which fear for their own vital water supplies. Cairo, along with Khartoum, have been pushing for a binding deal on the filling of the vast reservoir behind the dam. But Ethiopia has said it will push ahead with a second phase of filling in July and August, even if no agreement has been reached. Biden told Sisi that "Washington fully understands the utmost importance of this issue for the Egyptian people," according to AFP.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2990901/sisi-and-biden-discuss-gaza-ceasefire-gerd-dispute