Israel vows to stop aid ship as it nears Gaza

Israel vowed Friday to keep an Irish aid ship from breaching its blockade of the Gaza Strip, setting the stage for another maritime showdown as the vessel made its way toward the impoverished Palestinian territory.

Concern about more violence loomed large as Israel stood fast by its blockade, despite rising pressure to lift it following Monday's raid against another aid ship that left nine activists dead.

"We will stop the ship, and also any other ship that will try to harm Israeli sovereignty. There is no chance the Rachel Corrie will reach the coast of Gaza," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Israel's Channel 1 television.

In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said in a statement: "Those on board the Rachel Corrie have indicated that they are ready to accept inspection of their cargo at sea, prior to docking in Gaza."

Lieberman added that Israeli officials had been in touch with the Irish Foreign Ministry and said: "We clarified ... to the Irish and to others, no ship will arrive in Gaza without a security check, without checking the cargo, without knowing for certain (what is on board)."

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan, who was on the ship with other activists, said they were determined to press on but would offer no resistance if Israeli forces came aboard.

"We will sit down," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the ship. "They will probably arrest us ... But there will be no resistance."

We will stop the ship, and also any other ship that will try to harm Israeli sovereignty. There is no chance the Rachel Corrie will reach the coast of Gaza

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Rachel Corrie

The Free Gaza Movement said on its website that the ship, the 1,200-ton Rachel Corrie, would reach Gaza by Saturday morning.

"We are around 150 miles from Gaza, continuing at a steady pace, and hope to arrive on Saturday morning," Jenny Graham, one of the activists aboard the vessel said, according to the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

"The Israelis have not been in contact with us. We remain as committed to ever to getting our 1,200 tons of aid and supplies to the people of Gaza."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Thursday night that the boat would not reach the territory.

"There is a maritime blockade on Gaza," ministry director Yossi Gal told reporters in Jerusalem.

The new effort to break the blockade will test Israel's resolve as it faces a wave of international outrage following Monday's botched raid, in which Israeli commandos clashed with activists after rappelling onto a ship from helicopters.

Eight Turks and an American of Turkish descent were killed and hundreds of others on the ship were arrested and later deported.

The fallout has increased pressure to end the embargo that has plunged Gaza's 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty and sharply raised Mideast tensions at a time the U.S. is making a new push for regional peace.

Avoiding repetition of flotilla tragedy

Israel has urged the activists to bring the ship to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod and promised to transfer all cargo save any weapons or weapons components. The activists rejected the Israeli offer.

Netanyahu has instructed the Israeli military to avoid harming the passengers on board the Rachel Corrie, a participant at Thursday night's Cabinet meeting said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Gal said Israel has "no desire to board the ship. If the ship decides to sail to the (southern Israeli) port of Ashdod, then we will ensure its safe arrival and will not board it."

In Washington, the State Department said U.S. officials had been in touch with "multiple" countries, including the Israeli and Irish governments, about the latest effort.

"Everyone wants to avoid a repetition of this tragic incident," spokesman P.J. Crowley said. He added that the U.S. had been in contact numerous times with Israeli authorities in recent weeks. "We urged caution and restraint," he said.

International condemnation continued Friday, with protests in Egypt, Syria, Greece, Turkey, Bahrain and Malaysia, where some demonstrators burned Israeli flags and carried mock coffins. In Norway, the military canceled a seminar scheduled for later this month because an Israeli army officer was to have lectured.

Israel has allowed ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009.