Hamas Summer Camps Aims to Train 25,000 in Weapons, Fighting
Hamas opened it summer camp in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, where the terrorist group plans to provide two-weeks of military training to some 25,000 Palestinians between the ages of 15 and 60. Hamas officials, in a statement, said, “The goal of these military training camps is to train the vanguard for liberation: spiritually, intellectually and physically, to be ready and able to play its role in liberation.” Live-fire training exercises are part of the program according to the statement. The summer camps follow similar winter camps that were run this year for the first time which included naval commando training and sniper practice using targets bearing photos of Israeli leaders. The earlier camps elicited strong criticism from international human rights groups who were alarmed by the mass militarization of Gaza’s youth.
Photo: Palestinian young boys take part in military-inspired exercises during a summer camp organized by the Islamist movement Hamas in file photo. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)