This study aims to investigate the ways in which polarization is constructed in the news reporting on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through a critical discourse analysis of Egyptian and Ethiopian online reports. The study focuses on tracing the lexical choices and the discursive strategies employed in the ideological representations of the events and the social actors related to the issue of the GERD. The data of the study consist of 30 online news articles covering three main events: the diversion of the course of the Blue Nile in 2013, the Declaration of Principles (DOP) signed in 2015, and the first filling of the dam reservoir in 2020. The analysis is based on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework, and more particularly, van Dijk's (1998a) Ideological Square Model. The findings of the study reveal the impact of ideological and political stance on the discourse of news reporting in each of the two conflicting countries. The polarized representation of the issue of the GERD is realized through the positive in-group and negative out-group dichotomy.