Tel Aviv: The Israeli military intercepted a nine-boat flotilla early Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea trying to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and detained scores of activists on board, the flotilla organisers and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said the 145 activists were being brought to shore in Israel for processing and are expected to be deported soon. The interception came after nearly 450 activists, including European lawmakers and climate activist Greta Thunberg, were intercepted on more than 40 boats last week trying to reach Gaza.

That interception, of the Global Sumud Flotilla, drew widespread condemnation and sparked large protests in several major cities and a one-day strike across Italy.

The organisers of the nine-vessel group - made up of Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Thousand Madleens to Gaza - decried the detentions on Wednesday as "arbitrary and unlawful".