Palestinian Militant Group Hamas Celebrates 29th Anniversary, Parades Toddlers Armed With Machine Guns; Child Army Expansion Underway?

The Palestinian militant group called Hamas celebrated their 29th anniversary and they have paraded toddlers armed with machine guns. This shows that the team mimicked the Islamic State's "Cubs of the caliphate" as they have demonstrated that they are also expanding their child army.

Photos have been uploaded to Twitter, and the children were referred to as the future of Hamas. Dozens of heavily armed children were photographed having automatic guns and other weapons. Many of these kids looked as young as two years old, and they wore army fatigues. They also had green bandanas on them, The Sun reported. The parade took place over the weekend.

In one of the photos uploaded on Twitter, the caption said that these Hamas Cubs are the next soldiers of Gaza and the next liberation army. In another snap, a toddler was seen wearing a beret and was holding a gun. The caption said that the Hamas is increasing its enthusiasm, dignity, and power.

ألا تعلم بأن أولئك الأطفال هم جيل النصر القادم
عيناه هناك ترقب والأصبع على الزناد
فوربي إن النصر على أيديكم قرب أو بعد اللقاء .#حماس_29 pic.twitter.com/9iMVZs07FT

— ايمن عبد (@KotlaWest) December 9, 2016

The children that are part of the child army of Hamas are not limited to boys as videos from the procession that made rounds online also showed young girls in uniforms holding assault rifles. Another photo showed a mother lifting up her baby during the rally that marked the 289th anniversary of the militant group, The Tower reported.

Hamas has been celebrating their 29th anniversary since December started. It is believed that a major celebration will be taking place on Wednesday. This is not the first time that Hamas paraded with their soldiers, but it seems that this year more child soldiers were part of the ceremony. In 2014, they also burned an image of a religious Jew.

Over the summer, Hamas turned their terror tunnels into a tourist attraction as children frequented it. Just this May, videos surfaced showing children, possibly of kindergarten age, dressing up in fatigues and pretending that they were able to capture an Israeli soldier. It was part of their school play. Summer camps are also said to be operated by the militant group.