Sudan has no connection with a ship intercepted in the Red Sea allegedly carrying rockets from Iran to Gaza, Khartoum's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"We have nothing to do with this," foreign ministry spokesman Abubakr Al-Siddiq told AFP, adding that the vessel was in international waters.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday rejected as "lies" an Israeli claim that it intercepted a ship carrying advanced rockets sent by Tehran to the Gaza Strip.

"An Iranian ship carrying arms for Gaza. Captured just in time for annual (pro-Israel lobby) AIPAC anti Iran campaign. Amazing Coincidence! Or same failed lies," Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to a pro-Israel lobby group.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman left Israel on Thursday for Rome to meet his U.S. and Russian counterparts amid deadlock in peace talks with the Palestinians.

"The minister will meet John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov," his spokesman said, as Israel and the Palestinians engage in a war of words on the stalled U.S.-brokered negotiations.

A ship Israel said was carrying advanced rockets bound for Gaza from Iran will be brought into port Saturday after being intercepted by Israeli naval forces, the military said.

"This ship, which was transporting dozens of M302-type rockets with a range of 150 to 200 kilometers (more than 100 miles) is currently north of Port Sudan and will arrive in Eilat Saturday evening," General Motti Almoz told military radio Thursday.

An Israeli reconnaissance air balloon flew on Thursday over the orchards of the southern border towns of Kfarkila and Adaisseh, the state-run National news agency reported.

According to NNA, the air balloon was equipped with developed surveillance cameras and could monitor the areas near the settlement of al-Mtolleh, which overlooks the Lebanese territories.

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice will travel to Israel in May to head an American delegation for wide-ranging bilateral talks, the White House said Wednesday.

The announcement came two days after President Barack Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and they found themselves once again very publicly at odds as they discussed the sensitive issues of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and Iran's nuclear program.

Israel intercepted a ship in the Red Sea carrying Iranian "advanced weaponry" bound for Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday, the military said.

But an Iranian official denied the Israeli report.

Iran is pinning its hopes on the success of talks with the West about its nuclear program but has no plans to abandon a controversial reactor, its foreign minister said Wednesday.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comments as he ended an official visit to Tokyo which included talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Maronite bishops regretted on Wednesday Hizbullah's campaign against President Michel Suleiman and condemned the "assault on his dignity" as the symbol of the nation's unity.

Following its monthly meeting under Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki, the council of Maronite bishops “urged all parties to stop the campaign against the president … out of respect for the nation.”

Israel said Wednesday it fired at and hit two members of Hizbullah as they tried to plant a bomb near the Israeli-Syrian border, but Syrian state media accused the Jewish state of targeting its forces.

"Earlier today, two Hizbullah-affiliated terrorists were identified attempting to plant an explosive device near the Israel-Syria border in the northern Golan Heights,” the army said in a statement.