An Israeli court has approved the continued detention of eight international activists from the Madleen aid boat, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters on Monday.
The eight detainees had refused to sign deportation papers, unlike four other activists, including Greta Thunberg, who were forcibly deported on Tuesday.
According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site, the activists will remain in custody for an unspecified period while Israeli immigration authorities process their deportation.
Hadeel Abu Saleh, a lawyer from the legal centre Adalah representing seven of the detainees, said the length of detention will depend on how long Israeli authorities take to complete deportation procedures.
She added that after 96 hours, the state can legally deport the activists without their consent, though the detainees have stated they would rather remain imprisoned than comply with deportation.
In a statement posted to X on Wednesday, Adalah said: "The Madleen volunteers' continued custodial detention is completely unlawful. The volunteers must be released immediately and safely returned, either to the Madleen to resume their humanitarian mission to Gaza or to their countries of origin."
Adalah maintains that the court ruling is invalid because it is based on an illegal entry into Israel, which, they argue, did not occur. The Madleen was sailing in international waters and heading toward Gaza, part of the State of Palestine, not Israeli territory. The organisation also argued that the interception of the vessel was a violation of international law.
The eight detainees are currently being held at Givon Prison in Ramla, according to Anadolu. Among them is Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, who has launched a hunger and water strike in protest.
Accounts from those already deported suggest that the activists were subjected to harsh and coercive treatment.
Baptiste Andre, a French doctor who was also deported, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the detention was "harsh and unlawful".
He described how 80 Israeli commandos stormed the Madleen and locked the activists in the ship's lower compartment for 18 hours.
"They kept us under constant surveillance, denied us sleep, and refused to tell us where we were or how long we’d be held," he said.
Omar Fayyad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher, said: "We were incarcerated for three consecutive days and denied the right to contact anyone, including lawyers."
He added that he and the others were coerced into signing deportation documents without being told what they contained.
The group was later searched with dogs and subjected to hostile treatment, along with their Palestinian legal representatives, André added.
Both André and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg have described the incident as a "kidnapping", saying they were unlawfully seized by Israeli forces in international waters.