BEIJING, Aug. 13 -- Twelve women are training with male militants at a mix-gender training camp in the southern Gaza Strip of Khan Younis.

    The camp of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) was launched Monday, sources told Xinhua Tuesday.

    Soundbite: Abu Fadi, DFLP military wing member (national resistance brigades) "From a long time the Palestinian woman has been participating in the struggle to resist the occupiers. Its not a new thing. She offered her husband's life and her son's life and sometimes her own life to help the Palestinian cause."

    The DFLP officials hope the training will send their enemy a message.

    Soundbite: Abu Masaab, DFLP military wing member (national resistance brigades) "Our message for our Israeli enemy is: Here in Gaza, our women will resist you before our men do in the battlefield."

    Em Ahmad is one of the 12 female militants. She has received automatic shooting and sniper skill training at the camp.

    Soundbite: Em Ahmad, DFLP military wing member "During wars and sieges, the woman's mobility seems to be a bit easier than the man's ability to move. We are trained to hold guns and give first aid. During the periods of wars, we can help in moving weapons from a place to another and give first aid treatments to wounded resistance fighters."

    The training camp is set on what used to be an Israeli settlement before Israel withdrew its forces in 2005 in a unilateral disengagement.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Gaza. (XHTV)