Canadian peace activist Jaggi Singh won a temporary legal battle in Israel Sunday, after being denied permission to start what he called a fact-finding mission into allegations of human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Singh was detained by Israeli authorities at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv Saturday night. He is not under arrest, according to officials in Ottawa. But Israeli authorities want him to leave, Canada's Foreign Affairs Department said.

On Sunday, a lawyer representing Singh went to court and won an interim injunction against deportation.

Jaggi Singh (file photo)

A three-member panel of the Israeli supreme court will rule Monday on whether the Canadian should be allowed into the country.

Meanwhile, a Quebec-based group denounced Israel for stopping Singh from moving freely into the West Bank or Gaza Strip. The Palestinian group International Solidarity Movement said Israel is trying to silence critics.

"Jaggi's current detention highlights an increasing attack waged by the Israeli state against international activists who either travel to or work in the occupied territories," said Stefan Christoff, a spokesperson for the organization, at a news conference in Montreal.

Israeli customs and security officials questioned Singh at the airport for several hours before telling him to fly back to Canada, according to the International Solidarity Movement. He refused.

Singh went to the Middle East to collect information about the treatment of people in the occupied territories, Canadian Palestinian activists said.

Singh has been a central figure at many protests in Canada over the years, and has had several brushes with authorities here.

In April 2001, he was arrested in Quebec City and charged with participating in a riot outside the Summit of the Americas.