Palestinian young men take part in a military exercise at a summer camp organized by Hamas, in Gaza City on July 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Yasser Qudih)

 

Palestinian young men take part in a military exercise at a summer camp organized by Hamas, in Gaza City on July 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Yasser Qudih)

The military wing of Hamas opened summer camps on Saturday, providing combat training for thousands of Palestinians aged over 15 years old themed "Pioneers for Liberation."

"There are different ages registered to participate in the camp," a masked commander said at a news conference which was aired in one of the military sites.

He added "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."

The participants would spend two weeks "trained in military techniques and in firing live ammunition" as well as "first aid and rescue techniques."

He pointed out that the besieged Palestinian people in Gaza declare "to the world through the pioneers of liberation that we are going to Jerusalem, and the siege, aggression or normalization with Israel will not stop us from achieving our goals".

Human rights activists condemn Hamas who led the military camps as militarization of Gazan society and a violation of children's rights.

The launch of the camps is coming in light of the financial crisis suffered by the Qassam Brigades.

In January, Hamas called on all "resistance-lovers" for the first time to financially support it through the currency of Bitcoin.