Gaza militants deny involvement in arms shipment

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Iranian-backed militant group in the Gaza Strip says it is not involved in a seized missile shipment that Israel says came from Iran and was destined for Gaza.

The Islamic Jihad denied involvement on Friday. Khalid al-Baths, an Islamic Jihad leader, said his group has "nothing to do with this ship."

Islamic Jihad has fired numerous rockets at Israeli cities.

Iran and Hamas, the militant Islamic group that rules Gaza, denied involvement on Wednesday when the ship was seized by Israeli naval forces.

The raid took place in the Red Sea, hundreds of miles from Israel. The seized ship is set to dock in Israel this weekend.