Avichay Adraee, spokesman for the Israeli occupation army, as well as other Israeli accounts, published pictures on Wednesday, January 3, claiming that they show a training organized by Hamas in the Gaza Strip to teach young children to carry weapons.
An Exhibition by Al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza to Showcase Their Weapons
Misbar investigated the pictures published by Avichay Adraee, which claimed to show Hamas training children to carry weapons. This investigation revealed that the claim was misleading. The pictures were originally taken at an exhibition organized by the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in which they allowed the public to see their main tools and military equipment. The event, called “Resistance: a picture and a memory," was held in the five districts of the Gaza Strip on the third and fourth days of the latest Aid Al-Adha, starting June 30, 2023.
The “Resistance: a picture and a memory” event was supervised by the Interior Front division (the Gaza Brigade) of Al-Qassam Brigades, the event welcomed visitors to take souvenir photos with various weapons such as rockets, air defense systems, machine guns, and armors. Al-Qassam members were present to assist attendees in experiencing the exhibition and capturing photos.
The Truth About the Pictures Published by Avichay Adraee as Being Hamas Training Children
The photos published by Adraee were not previously published, but Misbar found other photos and videos of the event that had been previously documented by media outlets and influencers. These materials display the venue's features, as well as the weapons and equipment displayed during the event.
Palestinian artist and activist Ali Nisman, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing aggression, documented the details of the Al-Qassam exhibition and published images from the venue where children took pictures, showing features that appeared on the pictures shared by Avichay Adraee.
The images showed that the event attracted crowds of people from the Gaza Strip, and some families including men, women, and children came to take souvenir photos with Al-Qassam weapons.
Al-Qassam Hold Exhibitions to Showcase Their Military Equipment in Gaza
This is not the first time Al-Qassam Brigades have organized events to showcase their military equipment in Gaza, as they have previously organized other exhibitions, such as the one in December 2022 at the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Hamas movement.
The Israeli War on Gaza Continues for the Third Month
Avichay Adraee’s claim coincided with the ongoing Israeli misleading media campaign targeting Gaza's population, alongside the prolonged war on the Gaza Strip that commenced on October 7.
The Israeli war on Gaza has now entered its third month, with the occupation army persisting in violent raids across various locations in the strip, resulting in civilian casualties. Meanwhile, the resistance persists in countering and engaging the invading occupation forces on multiple fronts within Gaza.
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