About 15 militants reportedly stormed the mosque during the dawn prayers on Wednesday and kidnapped three people who are also militants in the terrorist movement. Shots were fired into the air during the incident.
According to a statement by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the incident was part of a factional dispute.
The three kidnapped people were brought to a site belonging to the PIJ in Khan Younis and were beaten with batons and rifles.
The three were identified as Ammar Ra’fat Abu al-Ola, Mohammed Ra’fat Abu al-Ola and Kamal Salem al-Brim.
Al-Brim was released within half an hour and was told that he was detained by mistake. The other two were released later in the morning suffering from fractures and bruises.
"The gunmen took me, my brother and our neighbor and friend Kamal Salem al-Brim and put each one of us in a different vehicle," said Ammar to PCHR. "As soon as they put me in the car, they blindfolded me and covered my face with a bag and handcuffed my hands to my back. Then, they started beating me with their rifles. "After 10 minutes of driving, they stopped in a yard; I later found out that it was a site belonging to al-Quds Brigades, west of Khan Younis. We were beaten with sticks and rifle’s butts, I was hit in the knees and hands, and I felt my bones breaking in my right arm."
The PCHR called on the factions to stop conducting arrests as such actions encroached on the power of civil police and law enforcement officers.
The family of Ammar and Mohammed claimed that "'Rambo' Khaled Mansour," a commander in the PIJ's Al-Quds Brigades, is responsible for the incident in a video spread on social media which included threats against Mansour, according to Palestinian reports.
PIJ released a statement rejecting the incident and apologizing to worshipers at the al-Ansar Mosque. The movement stressed that the incident was carried out by individuals acting on their own and that the PIJ was investigating and would hold those involved accountable.