An inside look at a terrorist group's summer camp for kids

Abid Katib/Getty Images

A masked Palestinian boy demonstrates martial arts maneuvers with a plastic gun March 5, 2004 in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

While kids from western societies are away at summer camp or summer school, some children from Palestine take a different approach to their summers.

Hamas, the Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization that's designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US, hosts annual youth camps that focus on military-style training. These camps are typically held from July 25 to August 1 near the Gaza Strip and have anywhere between 15,000 to 25,000 students.

Children are often used by Hamas in their campaign against Israel - according to Al-Monitor, Hamas' official charter emphasizes the necessity to educate the future generation, who will take part in forthcoming military missions for the liberation of Palestine.

Although Hamas hosts these training camps, they've also condemned attacks using children. After three youths were killed during a failed suicide mission in 2002, the organization called it a "national catastrophe" and issued a statement urging leaders to "remember that their lives are precious and should not be sacrificed."

Regardless of whether or not that statement was genuine, photos show that the youth summer camps are still being conducted in the highly volatile region.

Here's an inside look into Hamas' summer youth camps: