An Israeli court has temporarily halted a plan to place crocodiles in a moat around Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert, where Palestinian detainees from Gaza are held. The Jerusalem District Court issued the interim injunction on Sunday evening after the animal rights group Let the Animals Live filed a petition, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. The proposal was associated with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Judge Avraham Rubin barred authorities from taking action based on a decision by Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman. That decision classified crocodiles as “domesticated wildlife,” a designation that would have allowed their transfer and placement at the prison. Petitioners said the measure changed the animals’ legal status and removed controls and licensing requirements that applied to them as protected wildlife.

Kan reported that the ruling came hours after an administrative petition was filed against Ben-Gvir, Silman and the Israeli Prison Service. Silman’s July 15 decision sought to permit crocodile use as a “deterrent and security measure” at the prison. Prison authorities had already begun infrastructure work, including digging a canal, while the National Security Ministry allocated about 21 million shekels, or roughly $6.9 million, for the pilot project.