GAZA CITY, (Palestinian Territories): Palestinian armed groups staged military exercises in Gaza on Tuesday, including firing rockets into the sea, to mark the anniversary of the start of the 2008 conflict with Israel.

The demonstrations were organised under Gaza's so-called Joint Command Room, which is made up of roughly a dozen armed groups, including the Hamas Islamists, who have controlled the enclave since 2007. In addition to the volley of rockets fired into the Mediterranean Sea from platforms southwest of Gaza City, Palestinian fighters simulated various combat scenarios with Israeli troops, an AFP reporter said. Before the drill started, a spokesman for Al-Quds Brigade forces, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, told reporters the drills were aimed at preparing combatants for a future conflict with Israel.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamists took power in Gaza. The first came in December 2008, when Israel launched "Operation Cast Lead" to stop Palestinian rocket fire into Israel. It ended with a ceasefire in January 2009, after 1,440 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. Tuesday's exercise, the first of its kind, will "strengthen the skills of combatants" and demonstrate the "unity" of Gaza's armed groups, said the Al-Quds Brigade spokesman, whose face was almost entirely covered by a traditional headscarf as he spoke.