Israel is seeking to deport pro-Palestinian activists who were detained and brought to shore when their Gaza-bound boat was intercepted by the navy, AFP reports quoting the legal aid centre advising them.

The Handala and its crew from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) were brought to the port of Ashdod in Israel, where, according to the legal rights centre Adalah, all but two — a pair of dual US-Israeli nationals — were being held under Israeli immigration law.

“Israel is handling the custody of the volunteers as though they had entered the country illegally – even though they were forcibly taken from international waters and brought into Israel against their will,” Adalah said in a statement after its lawyers were allowed to meet the detainees.

“The authorities presented them with two options: either agree to so-called ‘voluntary deportation’, or remain in detention and appear before a tribunal, to have their continued detention pending deportation reviewed,” the statement continued.