Gaza aid flotilla attacked with drones, signal jamming in Mediterranean- National & International News - WED 24Sep2025 -

Gaza aid flotilla attacked with drones, signal jamming.

Three ICE detainees shot at facility in Dallas, one fatally.

Gaza aid flotilla attacked with drones, signal jamming

A flotilla of more than 50 civilian vessels carrying food aid, baby formula, medical supplies and tents is making its way to the shores of Gaza through the Mediterranean Sea. The Global Sumud Flotilla aims to break the decades-long naval blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel, which human rights group have called a crime against humanity. Sumud means “steadfastness” in Arabic.

In Gaza, famine is spreading as Israel restricts aid while embarking on its largest bombing campaign and ground invasion since October 2023. The flotilla’s participants – which include politicians, trade unionists, entertainers, private citizens and activists including Greta Thunberg – hope to reach Gaza in 6 days to breach the blockade.

The bulk of the flotilla is currently in international waters off the southern shore of the Greek island of Crete. Last night, the flotilla’s participants say their boats came under attack by drones dropping flashbangs and incendiary devices. This is the third time this particular mission has come under drone attack in the past month. Yasemin Acar, a human rights activist aboard one of the vessels, says someone was “jamming our comms by playing ABBA songs, you know, to interfere with our radio”. She said the jamming attack prevented ships from contacting the Greek coast guard. Tonight, drones were spotted above the flotilla for a second night as they approached Greek territorial waters.

Israel has blocked and intercepted many such flotillas over the years. The most notable encounter was the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israeli commandos boarded a humanitarian aid ship and killed 10 civilians. This year, they have stopped two smaller flotillas organized by the same group behind the Global Sumud flotilla. The Israeli military seized the ships and cargo in international waters and detained the activists on board.

Despite what the activists called Israel’s “psychological operations” of intimidation, they are determined to press forward.

Spain, Italy send ships to assist the flotilla

Earlier today, Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni condemned the drone attack on the flotilla. Italy’s navy has dispatched a frigate to render aid to the flotilla’s crew, which include Italian citizens and even members of parliament. Meloni, who has largely allied with Israel, nevertheless condemned the flotilla itself as being “dangerous and irresponsible”. Her government has come under increasing pressure to act to protect Palestinian civilians by the country’s labor activists. Earlier this week, the country’s largest labor union called a 24-hour general strike in solidarity with Gaza, bringing life in over 70 Italian cities to a halt.

Tonight, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country would also dispatch a warship to assist the flotilla. A ship is leaving Cartagena “with all necessary resources in case it was necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out a rescue operation”.

Libya has also dispatched a hospital ship loaded with medical supplies to join the flotilla.

Three ICE detainees shot at facility in Dallas, one fatally

On Wednesday morning, a sniper opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, TX, from an adjacent building. The shooter fired on a van in a sally port where detainees were being unloaded. Three detainees were shot. One died at the scene and the other two are hospitalized in critical condition. Their names have not been released. The alleged shooter took his own life at the scene. He has been identified as, Joshua Jahn, 29.

FBI Director Kash Patel claimed on Twitter that unspent bullets were found at the scene with the words “ANTI-ICE” written on them. Although all the victims of the shooting were detainees and not law enforcement, officials are speculating the shooter was ideologically motivated to kill law enforcement, particularly immigration agents.

Journalist Ken Klippenstein spoke to friends of Jahn who had known him at least since middle school. The picture they painted was not of an ideological leftist, but a libertarian critical of both Democrats and Republicans. The friends also described Jahn as an “edgelord,” a person who cultivates a provocative online persona, usually with the aim of shocking others with extreme or nihilistic statements.

One friend said this off-putting persona was creeping into Jahn’s real life behavior, prompting Jahn’s friends to distance themselves “He was becoming unbearable,” the friend said, adding that “once [Jahn] dropped out of college he had no obligation to be social”. Given Jahn’s persona, the friends Klippenstein spoke to doubted whether any sincere ideological meaning could be derived from what was written on the bullets.

Klippenstein was unable find anyone with more recent insight into Jahn’s views. The friends said that was unsurprising due to Jahn’s retreat from social life. One friend told Klippenstein, “If you’re having trouble finding people besides immediate family who knew him, that’s part of the story. Every mutual friend drifted away over that kind of edgelord behavior.”