Gaza militants hold parade after latest battle with Israel

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Islamic Jihad militants have displayed life-sized replicas of their rockets during a parade in the Gaza Strip. Wednesday’s rally was a show of defiance after three days of heavy fighting with Israel earlier this month. The flare-up left 49 Palestinians dead, including the militant group’s top two commanders and 10 other fighters, before an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire took effect. The militants fired some 1,100 rockets, but no one on the Israeli side was killed or seriously wounded. It was the deadliest exchange of fire since last year’s war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza and which did not take part in the latest fighting.