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.