Israeli military officials said the Israeli military mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday.
In a statement issued on Friday, Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, wrote: "The Israeli army found the hostages and wrongly identified them as a threat, so forces opened fire on them and killed them." He said it was unclear whether the hostages had escaped their captors or had been abandoned.
During the scanning and examination of the area of the incident, doubts arose about the identity of the deceased. The bodies were transported to Israeli territory for examination, where they were found to be three Israeli hostages.
The deaths occurred in the Shijaiyah area of Gaza City, where the army has engaged in fierce fighting with Hamas militants in recent days.
He said the military was "deeply saddened" by the incident and was investigating. According to the IDF, two of the dead hostages have been identified as Yotam Haim and Samel Fouad Talarka. The IDF added that "a message has also been sent to the family of the third abductee, whose name is not disclosed at this time, at their request".
Reports from the Associated Press, The Guardian, Reuters