ATHENS — Greece's foreign ministry said Monday it would contact the organizers of a flotilla aiming to breach Israel's Gaza Strip sea blockade about its offer to deliver the activists' aid.

Greece has banned the flotilla's boats from leaving Greek ports to head to the territory, citing security concerns. It arrested the captain of the Audacity of Hope, a boat carrying American activists, which tried to breach the ban last week.

Over the weekend, Greece announced it was willing to transport the humanitarian aid itself on Greek vessels or by other means.

"The hope is that we will be able to go forward. For that reason we will come into contact with all the boats to explain to them how we can arrange to transport the aid from Greece," said foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras.

Israel says it imposed the blockade in 2007 to stop weapons reaching Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. Last year, nine activists on a Turkish boat in a similar flotilla were killed during an Israeli raid, and Israel eased its land blockade after an international uproar over the incident.

But Israel has pledged to thwart any attempt to reach Gaza by sea; it says aid deliveries can occur through its own established channels.

"Greece is taking a responsible stance and dealing with a particular situation. And this situation says that there is an immediate danger to human life by participating in this attempt," Delavekouras said. "This is something that arises from experience. I think we all remember the tragic events we had last year. The region doesn't need this at the moment."

The spokesman noted the attempt to break the blockade comes at a delicate time in the Middle East. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party and Hamas have been trying to end a four-year rift that left the Palestinians with rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou contacted Abbas on Sunday, and Papandreou's office said the Palestinian president had expressed his support for the Greek government's proposal to transport the aid to Gaza itself.

On Sunday, Robert Naiman, an American activist, dismissed the Greek offer as an attempt by Greece to deflect criticism over its ban on the flotilla departure.

Activists on a French boat, the Louise Michel, unfurled their sails Monday and revved their engines -- but did not attempt to move from their position docked at a marina near the port of Piraeus -- in protest of the Greek ban to sail.

"We are Europeans, we are here in Europe, and we are just saying that we are under (blockade) in Europe," said the boat's captain, Alain Connan. "That is absolutely not acceptable."