The Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF, unilaterally reconvened the 2020 Tigray State Council and announced the election of TPLF Chair Debretsion Gebremichael as its head, stating that these moves were in response to the Ethiopian government having "violated" the 2022 peace deal that ended the Tigray war, Addis Standard reported on May 5. This comes amid reports of an explosion near the regional president's office on May 4 and an Ethiopian government aircraft maneuvering over Tigray's regional capital, Mekele.