Hamas on Thursday held “graduation ceremonies” for 17,000 Palestinian youths who attended its training camps in the Gaza Strip, entitled “Vanguards of Liberation.”
During the week-long camps, the youths, aged 15-21, underwent military training that included handling various types of weapons and sniping.
The training was organized and held by members of Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin al-Qassam.
Hamas said that the youths would form the nucleus of a future “Liberation Army.”
A spokesman for Izaddin al-Qassam said during the ceremonies, which were held in Gaza City and Khan Yunis, that the youths were trained to use various types of light and heavy weapons. He said the training also included teaching the youths how to lay in ambush.
“Today, these youths are soldiers in the Gaza Strip,” the spokesman said. “Tomorrow they will liberate the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Zionist enemy needs to know that we are coming soon to liberate our Aqsa Mosque and prisoners.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said during the graduation ceremony in Khan Yunis that the “Palestinian resistance was founded to defend Palestinian and the dignity of all Arabs and Muslims.”
Zahar said that no “reasonable person could describe the Palestinian resistance as terrorism.”
He added that the new recruits would operate rockets in the next battle with Israel.
Another Hamas official, Khalil al-Haya, said that the Hamas training camps were aimed at sending a message to the world that the Palestinian “resistance is capable of defending its people against conspiracies.”
Al-Haya said that Hamas was preparing a new generation of Palestinians for war with Israel. “We raise the new generation on resistance and not security coordination [with Israel.”