Ashdod, Israel (CNN) -- The Israeli military has warned an Irish-owned aid ship not to try and break its naval blockade of Gaza, but has not boarded the boat, Israeli military officials said Saturday.
A crew member on board who spoke to CNN Saturday said three Israeli ships were following the MV Rachel Corrie, a cargo ship loaded with humanitarian aid and bound for Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade.
"You are approaching an area of hostilities which is under a naval blockade," the Israeli Navy said via radio transmission, according to a statement from the Israeli military.
"The Gaza area, coastal region and Gaza Harbor are closed to all maritime traffic. The Israeli government supports delivery of humanitarian supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and invites you to enter the Ashdod port."
The ship's approach comes five days after violence erupted when Israeli forces boarded another ship attempting to break the Israeli blockade, leading to the deaths of nine people on board.
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Activists on the Rachel Corrie have said they would surrender peacefully if Israeli forces boarded the boat.
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Israel had offered to unload the vessel's cargo in Ashdod, screen the material and deliver it to Gaza, but passengers aboard the ship rejected the offer, according to a statement from Micheal Martin, Ireland's minister for foreign affairs.
The 19 people aboard the vessel -- which is owned by the Free Gaza Movement -- include activists and crew members who are determined to reach Gaza, passengers told CNN Friday.
"We're not prepared to turn around," said Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, who is aboard the ship. "We are prepared to go straight to Gaza."
"We will stay within the international waters," said Maguire. "If Israel refuses that we get into Gaza and insists on boarding our boat, then we will sit down as non-violent activists. We will be very peaceful. We will not resist the Israeli navy coming aboard, arresting us and taking us by force to [the Israeli port city of ] Ashdod, but we will not turn around. We will keep going."
Organizers say the ship is carrying 550 tons of cement to help rebuild schools, homes and other buildings destroyed in Gaza.
Maguire said the ship is also carrying "tons" of writing materials donated by Norway, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment -- including wheelchairs donated by Scotland -- and toys.
Former Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Denis Halliday, also aboard the Rachel Corrie, said Thursday the passengers had no plans to confront the Israelis.
"We will stand back and show we are harmless and unarmed -- we will put up no resistance," he said. "We're not going to make any silly mistakes."
Israel said its naval blockade is in place to stop weaponry from reaching militants in Gaza intent on attacking Israel.
"If, as is their stated intention, the Israeli government intercepts the Rachel Corrie, the government demands that it demonstrate every restraint," said Martin. He called on Israel to lift its blockade.
In Monday's incident, nine Turkish citizens were killed after violence erupted on one of six ships in a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. A number of other people were wounded.
Israel said the passengers initiated the attack; the passengers said it was the troops who initiated it.
The violence has sparked official and grassroots rage in governments and streets inside and outside the Middle East.
At a weekly anti-Israeli wall protest in the West Bank village of Bil'in, demonstrators flashed peace signs and waved Turkish flags as they marched beside a protest boat on wheels, which they said was a symbol of solidarity with those killed on the Gaza flotilla.
Israel's military responded with tear gas and took control of the land-locked boat. The boat was eventually released.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Thursday that the incident "left an irreparable and deep scar" in once-close Turkish-Israeli ties.
At the United Nations, the Security Council called for an inquiry into the flotilla raid and the Human Rights Council voted for a probe, but Israel said it alone -- and not an international entity -- should be investigating.
The Israel Defense Forces military advocate general said Israel's interception of the flotilla was legal because international law allows a country to stop a vessel in international waters if it attempts to breach a naval blockade -- even before such a blockade is breached.
"We're just hopeful the Israelis will let us make a small gesture for the people of Palestine," Halliday said Thursday. "Because we believe Monday was a gross error."
He added that Monday's confrontation resulted from "faults on both sides," saying the effort on the Rachel Corrie is a "different ball game."
The MV Rachel Corrie was named for a 23-year-old American woman who was killed in Gaza in 2003 while attempting to keep IDF forces from bulldozing the home of a Palestinian.
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