JERUSALEM — Days after a deadly confrontation at sea when Israeli commandos raided a flotilla trying to challenge the naval blockade of Gaza, a vessel owned by the Free Gaza Movement carrying humanitarian supplies and a small group of pro-Palestinian activists was on the way, scheduled to arrive early on Saturday.

On Friday, the Israeli and Irish governments reached an agreement to unload the vessel’s cargo at the port in Ashdod, in southern Israel, and transport it to Gaza — essentially the same deal Israel offered to the activists in the aid convoy that was attacked on Monday.

But Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement, the principal organizer of the earlier flotilla, said that those on board had rejected that approach. “The whole point is to try to break the blockade,” Ms. Berlin said, speaking by telephone from Cyprus.

The rejection left open the possibility of another confrontation, though with only 11 passengers on board, 4 of them over 60 years old, and a crew of 8, there seemed to be less potential for violence. The passengers have said that any resistance will be peaceful.