Gaza: Children trained as Jihadist fighters in summer camp

Children between the ages of six and 16 in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have been photographed doing life-like military training exercises, fire guns and jump over burning tires, according to the news agency AFP. The camp is organized by the Islamic Jihad movement during a summer school vacation in the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

One of the pictures shows young boys dragging a Khaki-clad doll away from an Israeli flag, in what appears to be a re-enactment of the kidnapping in 2006 of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He was finally released after more than five years in captivity, as part of a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel.

On the photos, boys are also pictured marching and standing to attention as orders were barked at them to instill military discipline. Visitors to the camp, called Generation of Faith, are given AK47s machine guns that are bigger than some of the children holding them. Participants wear black uniforms bearing the camp's slogan in Arabic, with a logo showing two fists, two guns and a map of the Gaza Strip.

AFP reports that the camp organizers expect the participation of up to 10,000 Palestinian children throughout the summer.

Photos: Agence France Presse