GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Most of the military training sites of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which can be found in many places in the Gaza Strip, have been turned into military training camps for thousands of Palestinian youths for an entire week during the midterm school holiday.

“The vanguards of liberation camps,” which are organized by Hamas’ military wing, have witnessed for the first time a large number of young men participating amid diverging views as to the goals behind these camps and their benefit to the young trainees, while the Gaza Strip is going through harsh economic and political times.

In the west of Gaza at the Badr military site of al-Qassam Brigades, training camp participants were divided into two shifts — a morning and an afternoon shift — during which they train for four hours daily under the supervision of the brigades' officials.

Al-Monitor was present at the Badr site, where the model of a locally made rocket stood, when trainees were divided into groups and deployed on-site. Trainers were busy distributing Kalashnikovs among the youth to train them on how to fire the assault rifles.