Palestinian militants stage mass armed march

Defying a Palestinian Authority ban on public displays of weapons, about 1,000 militants brandishing assault rifles and rocket launchers marched through Gaza City today and vowed to hold on to their arms.

Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent offshoot of the governing Fatah party, fired into the air while their leaders made speeches insisting on the right to bear arms against Israel, which withdrew from Gaza in September, though it still controls most access points to the territory.

“Brothers, don’t ever give up your weapons,” said a senior Gaza leader known by the nickname Abu Ibrahim. “We can’t lay down our arms while Israel still occupies the West Bank, surrounds Gaza and controls our airspace and coastal waters, which means that the occupation remains and resistance will continue.”

The arms ban officially went into effect two months ago, days after an explosion at a rally for the militant group Hamas killed 25 people. Hamas blamed Israel, but Palestinian investigators said the blast was set off when militants mishandled explosives they were displaying at the rally.

Al Aqsa spokesman Zakariye Assouli said the group supported the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to stop internal violence while reserving the right to avenge Israeli attacks.

“We respect our brothers in the political leadership,” Assouli said. “We honour their commitments, but they can’t ask us to watch daily Israeli aggression and to remain silent.”

The Palestinian Authority has had great difficulty trying to impose order on the volatile coastal strip, where militants routinely flaunt their power.