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France pushes Gaza ceasefire call at UN Security Council

18 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

France is pushing a resolution at the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which it plans to bring for a vote in the coming days if the fighting continues, a French source tells Axios.

Why it matters: The move surprised the Biden administration, which has blocked three previous Security Council statements on Gaza. The French could use the draft resolution to get the U.S. to apply more pressure on Israel to stop its military operation.

Driving the news: France circulated a draft to several members of the council on Tuesday. The move was coordinated with Egypt and Jordan following a summit between French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

  • The draft resolution is based on public statements in support of a ceasefire made by the Biden administration in recent days, according to the French source, in order to make it more difficult for the U.S. to veto a resolution that's based on its own policy.
  • Israel lobbied the U.S. to block three previous draft statements on Gaza at the council. While it did so, the administration has begun sending signals that it wants Israel to end its operation soon.

What's next: To block the resolution, the U.S. would have to use its veto power. That's something the Biden administration, which has pledged to strengthen multilateralism, will be reluctant to do.

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.