Armed Islamic Jihad members burst into a Khan Younis mosque in Gaza at dawn on Wednesday and abducted three young men praying there, according to local reports.
In a statement, the Gaza division of the Islamist terror group called it “a saddening event,” and promised to conduct an internal investigation, without explicitly stating whether its members were responsible.
Members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group march during a military parade in Gaza City on October 4, 2018. (Anas Baba/AFP PHOTO)
The Hamas Interior Ministry says it is also investigating the incident, saying that “no one is above the law.”
Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it formally expelled the Fatah party, its main political rival, to the West Bank.
Islamic Jihad has remained in Gaza and enjoys a degree of autonomy from the other terror group’s rule due to the strength of its militias.
— Aaron Boxerman
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