Hamas, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, is planning to establish a military academy in the Gaza Strip for training and educating schoolchildren grades seven to nine. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced Thursday January 24th, that the new military academy, the first of its kind in the Gaza Strip, would prepare the children for the "phase of liberating Palestine.” The decision to establish a military academy follows Hamas's announcement that it would create its own "Defense Ministry" in the Gaza Strip.