New confrontation at al-Aqsa Mosque hours after Gaza ceasefire
21 May 2021
One day after the ceasefire in Gaza, Israel police forcibly dispersed a protest at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or Temple Mount, the site of a previous police raid last Monday that Hamas cited in launching its initial rocket attacks.
Why it matters: Tensions in Jerusalem were a primary driver of the escalation in Gaza. Today’s clashes show those tensions are still high.
Driving the news: Tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers attended the Friday prayer today.
- The prayer ended with no unusual incidents, but after most of the worshipers left several hundred mostly young Palestinians began demonstrating with Palestinian flags. Some of them started throwing stones at the Israeli police, and some later threw Molotov cocktails.
- The Israeli police sent reinforcements, fired stun grenades, and attempted to take the flags from the protesters. The confrontation lasted around an hour, per Reuters. Police did not enter the mosque, as they did in the previous raid.
- According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, at least 20 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes. Several Israeli policeman were reportedly also hurt.
What they're saying: The Jordanian foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the Israeli police response and called on Israel to de-escalate the situation in Jerusalem after the ceasefire in Gaza.
- The Palestinian Authority also condemned Israel and called on the Israeli government to stop the "provocations" in Jerusalem that could undermine efforts to stabilize the ceasefire in Gaza.
What’s next: Tony Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel on Sunday night for his first visit as Secretary of State. Blinken is expected to visit the Palestinian Authority too and possibly Egypt and Jordan, Israeli officials said.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly 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.