Updated

Thousands of Hamas security forces are staging a military parade in the Gaza Strip to mark the anniversary of an eight-day battle against Israel last year.

The hostilities began when Israel assassinated Hamas' military commander, Ahmad Jabari, in a November 2012 airstrike. Over the next week, Israel carried out hundreds of airstrikes, while Hamas and other militant groups fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.

Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad called Wednesday on Arabs in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Israel to unite in a holy war to "uproot the Jews" from Israel. He said: "A third intifada is approaching." That's an Arabic term for past Palestinian uprisings against Israel.

Police sirens wailed across the city. Military vehicles carried posters of Jabari and other Hamas leaders killed by Israel.