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Netanyahu convenes Israeli Cabinet to discuss potential Gaza ceasefire

20 May 2021
 Dan Ackermann

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene Israel's Security Cabinet at 7pm local time (12pm ET) on Thursday to discuss the military operation in Gaza and the possibility of a ceasefire.

Why it matters: Any ceasefire would require the approval of the Security Cabinet, and senior Israeli officials expect an agreement by this weekend.

  • Yes, but: Netanyahu has resisted international pressure toward a ceasefire so far. In an apparent signal that he wouldn't be rushed, Netanyahu canceled a planned Cabinet meeting on Wednesday after President Biden urged him to move towards a ceasefire.

The state of play: The ceasefire talks are moving on two tracks: Egyptian intelligence officials are talking to Netanyahu's office and to Hamas leadership in Gaza; while UN envoy Tor Wennesland is talking to Hamas political leadership abroad.

  • Wennesland arrived in Qatar on Wednesday for talks with Hamas officials.

Driving the news: Both sides have intensified their attacks in anticipation of a ceasefire. Gaza health officials said on Thursday that 230 Palestinians had been killed since the beginning of the crisis, with 1,710 wounded.

What they're saying: A diplomatic source told me the UN was "actively engaged with all the relevant parties in order to de-escalate the situation on the ground."

  • A senior Israeli official said he thinks a breakthrough towards a ceasefire could take place in the next 24 hours. Netanyahu's office declined to comment.
  • Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk said Wednesday that he expects the talks to produce a ceasefire within a day or two.

What to watch: Hamas officials have called on Israel to end police "incursions" into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or Temple Mount, and stop the evictions of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem as part of a ceasefire.

  • Israel refuses to discuss any agreement that would link the Gaza conflict to Jerusalem, sources familiar with the talks tell me.

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.