RAMALLAH, February 9, 2010 (WAFA)- Israel's Supreme Court freed the two  international activists on bail, declaring their arrests illegal because Israeli officials had no jurisdiction in Palestinian territory, but they are banned from re-entering it.

Bridget Chappell of Canberra was one of two foreign activists arrested by Israeli army in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday on the apartment she shared with a Spanish woman Ariadna Jove Marti in  the West Bank city of Ramallah.

An Australian pro-Palestine activist said she was arrested at gunpoint, falsely imprisoned and denied food and phone contact for 15 hours over what Israeli authorities say is a visa irregularity.

They insured that they were arrested by immigration police armed with rifles and travelling in armoured personnel carriers.”

They were taken to a police station, then a military camp and ordered to sign a form declaring they agreed to be deported from Israel within 48 hours, or they would be jailed for six months.

'From 2am until about 5pm we were not given any food or access to our phones so that we could call our friends and our lawyer and tell them what had happened,' Ms Chappell said.

Ms Chappell said her visa had expired in November but she had arranged to meet with immigration officials on March 1 to have it extended.

Because of that appointment, she said she was legally entitled to stay at least until then.'Our arrest was not about our visas. The Israelis are trying to take away anyone who works for the Palestinian struggle,' she said. 'Anyone involved with the Palestinian struggle is being arrested because there is a large crackdown on activists at the moment.'