( CNN ) -- An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying medical volunteers and supplies to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea , witnesses and Israeli officials said . The Dignity arrives in Tyre , Lebanon , after it was reportedly rammed by an Israeli military vessel Tuesday . CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot pleasure boat Dignity when the contact occurred . When the boat later docked in the Lebanese port city of Tyre , severe damage was visible to the forward port side of the boat , and the front left window and part of the roof had collapsed . It was flying the flag of Gibraltar . The Dignity was carrying crew and 16 passengers -- physicians from Britain , Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists from the Free Gaza Solidarity Movement -- who were trying to reach Gaza through an Israeli blockade of the territory . Also on board was former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney . Penhaul said an Israeli patrol boat shined its spotlight on the Dignity , and then it and another patrol boat shadowed the Dignity for about a half hour before the collision . One patrol boat `` very severely rammed '' the Dignity , Penhaul said . The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no warning . Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio to say they struck the boat because they believed it was involved in terrorist activities , the captain said . But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that and said the patrol boat had warned the vessel not to proceed to Gaza because it is a closed military area . Palmor said there was no response to the radio message , and the vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat , leading to the collision . Watch Penhaul describe the boat damage » . The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally , Penhaul said , but Palmor called those allegations `` absurd . '' `` There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody , '' Palmor said . `` I would call it ramming . Let 's just call it as it is , '' McKinney said after the boat docked in Lebanon . `` Our boat was rammed three times , twice in the front and one on the side . Watch Cynthia McKinney discuss the collision » . `` Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis -- the aggressiveness of the Israeli military , '' she said . The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza . Israel controls the waters off Gaza 's coast and routinely blocks ships from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border . Human rights groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza , which has restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies . Tuesday 's collision was so severe , Penhaul said , that the passengers were ordered to put on their life vests and be ready to get in lifeboats . The Dignity began taking on water , but the crew managed to pump it out of the hull long enough for the boat to reach shore . `` It could have ended with people drowning if they hit us more square on , '' Dignity 's captain , Denis Healey , said . `` It could have gone down in minutes . '' Palmor said the vessel refused assistance after the incident . The boat was carrying boxes of relief supplies , volunteers and journalists to Gaza , the Palestinian territory that has been subject to an intense Israeli bombing campaign since Saturday . Israel Tuesday lambasted McKinney -- the Green Party 's 2008 candidate for the U.S. presidency and a former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia -- for taking part in the maritime mission . In a written statement , the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast , based in Atlanta , Georgia , said McKinney `` has taken it upon herself to commit an act of provocation , '' endangering herself and the crew . `` We regret that during this time of crisis , while Israel is battling with the terrorist organization of Hamas and defending its citizens , that we are forced to deal with Ms. McKinney 's irresponsible behavior , '' the statement read . The trip was the Free Gaza Solidarity Movement 's sixth in as many months . Israel launched airstrikes against Gaza on Saturday in what Defense Minister Ehud Barak called an `` all-out war '' against the Palestinian militant group Hamas , which has ruled the territory since 2007 . The Israeli military says its goal is to stop a recent barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel . Watch the chaos in Gaza and Israel » . The Palestinian death toll has topped 375 , most of them Hamas militants , Palestinian medical sources said Tuesday . At least 60 civilians have been killed in Gaza , U.N. officials said . Hamas has continued to fire rockets at southern Israeli towns since the airstrikes began , Israel says . Six Israelis have been killed -- five of them civilians . Hamas has vowed to defend Gaza in the face of what it calls continued Israeli aggression . Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire , which formally expired December 19 , but had been weakening for months .
NEW : Israel scolds former congresswoman for being on Gaza-bound boat . Israeli naval vessel , boat with medical volunteers collide in Mediterranean . Boat 's crew contends naval vessel rammed it intentionally . Israel denies intentionally hitting boat carrying journalists , medical supplies .