The Cypriot authorities have not been formally notified about the interception of boats sailing towards Gaza in the eastern Mediterranean as part of the Gaza Sumud flotilla, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday evening.

“No, we have not been notified, and of course, if we are asked for help, we will respond. It is in international waters. If help is requested from the Republic of Cyprus, the joint rescue coordination centre [JRCC] is ready to respond,” he told journalists outside a business award ceremony.

His comments come after the JRCC had said that neither the flotilla nor the Israeli navy were in Cypriot waters at any point.

“In relation to the international flotilla which was sailing towards Gaza, it is noted that it never entered the territorial waters of the Republic of Cyprus. The passage and any related activity took place in international waters, at a distance of 90 nautical miles from Cyprus,” it said.

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Meanwhile, Israeli newspaper the Times of Israel reported that 16 vessels had been intercepted as of Monday afternoon, with more than 50 vessels having set sail from the Turkish port of Marmaris earlier in the week.

In response, the Global Sumud flotilla, the group which organises the flotilla, said that “military vessels are currently intercepting our fleet and IOF forces are boarding the first of our boats in broad daylight”, with “IOF” being shorthand for the “Israeli occupation forces”, the name given to the Israel Defence Forces by its detractors.

The group then said that it demands “safe passage for our legal, non-violent humanitarian mission”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli navy did “an outstanding job” in intercepting the flotilla, and that its sailors “are effectively thwarting a malicious plan intended to break the isolation we are imposing Hamas terrorists in Gaza”.

“You are doing this with great success, and I must say also, quietly, and certainly with less publicity than our enemies expected,” he said.

The Israeli embassy in Nicosia, meanwhile, had attributed the flotilla’s actions to “two violent Turkish groups”, telling the Cyprus Mail that the voyage had been organised by “Mavi Marmara” and “IHH”, the former being the name of a ship raided by the IDF in 2010 which saw ten civilians killed, and the latter being the shorthand for the humanitarian relief foundation – a Turkish non-government organisation.

Later in the day, Turkey expressed fury at the flotilla’s interception, with the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan describing the interception as an act of “piracy and banditry” and calling on the international community to act against Israel’s “lawless actions”.

The country’s foreign ministry said that “by targeting the Global Sumud flotilla, Israel has violated humanitarian principles and international law”.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that his country’s embassies in Tel Aviv, Ankara, and Nicosia have asked Israel to ensure the safety of Italian citizens who were on board the intercepted boats.