Hamas military summer camp for youth draw criticism

dpa Tel Aviv/Gaza Military summer camps run by the militant Palestinian organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad for children and young people in the Gaza S...

dpa Tel Aviv/Gaza Military summer camps run by the militant Palestinian organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad for children and young people in the Gaza Strip are drawing criticism.“Hamas is training tens of thousands of Palestinian kids in these camps,” Israeli spokesman Ofir Gendelman wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.“Using children as terrorists is a war crime and a crime against humanity.” In recent days, numerous pictures from the summer camps have been published on social media. They showed children and young people in martial outfits training with weapons.Hamas and Islamic Jihad offer the camps to children and youths aged 12 to 18. Recruitment took place in mosques in various locations in the Gaza Strip.The exact number of participants is unclear. Israeli media spoke of around 50,000 children and youths, but in the Gaza Strip the number is believed to be lower.Last month, Israeli forces engaged in an 11-day battle with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. According to official figures, 13 people were killed in Israel, while 255 people died in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health there.Among them were many children and young people. Egypt eventually brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas, which came into effect on May 21. The Islamist Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and the EU.About 2 million people live in very poor conditions in the coastal area. Schoolchildren are on holiday until September.