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Blinken in Israel to push for stabilizing Gaza ceasefire

25 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

Secretary of State Tony Blinken landed in Israel on Tuesday, the first stop on his first trip to the Middle East since assuming office.

Why it matters: State Department officials, who are realistic about the current low chances of reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, say the visit will focus on stabilizing the Gaza ceasefire and start discussions on humanitarian aid and reconstruction.

Driving the news: Blinken was scheduled to visit Jerusalem and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

  • Later, he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh in Ramallah in the central West Bank.

The state of play: State Department officials said the U.S. wants to push forward with the reconstruction of Gaza and humanitarian relief efforts in a way that will not benefit Hamas.

  • They said the U.S. wants to work with both the UN and the Palestinian Authority on those efforts.
  • The Palestinian Authority has no control over Gaza, but the U.S. hopes the reconstruction efforts will help in returning the Palestinian Authority to Gaza in some form.

What they're saying: "Hamas will not have veto power over the reconstruction efforts," a State Department official said.

  • "We can’t fully guarantee it but we will do everything we can to make sure the assistance will go to the people of Gaza and not to Hamas."

What's next: On Wednesday, Blinken will travel to Amman, Jordan, and Cairo, Egypt, for meetings with King Abdullah and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.