The prisoners were killed in battle with Palestinian fighters after being mistakenly identified as a threat.

The Israeli army has killed three prisoners held by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza after “mistakenly” identifying them as a threat, according to Israeli military officials.

The military said Friday that the Prisoners were killed in fighting with Palestinian groups in Gaza and expressed condolences to the families and said there would be “full transparency” in the investigation into the incident, which was “under review.”

“During the battle in Shejaiya, the [Israeli army] incorrectly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat. The troops then fired on them and they were killed,” an army statement said.

“The [Israeli army] immediately began investigating the incident…Immediate lessons were learned from the event and passed on to everyone [Israeli army] troops in the field,” it added, expressing “deep regret over the tragic incident.”

The hostages were three young men abducted from Israeli communities during the Hamas attack on October 7: 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 25-year-old Samer Al-Talalka and 26-year-old Alon Shamriz .

Army chief spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops found the hostages and misidentified them as a threat. He said it was believed the three had either fled from their captors or been abandoned.

Israeli troops have fought fierce battles with Palestinian fighters in the region in recent days.

According to Israeli authorities, about 250 prisoners were taken to Gaza by Palestinian groups during the October 7 attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Thousands more are missing and trapped under the rubble.

The Israeli government has repeatedly stated that the repatriation of all hostages is one of its main goals in the war.

So far, 110 of the prisoners have been released, most of them as part of a seven-day ceasefire last month in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Israel has also repatriated eight bodies, including on Friday those of dual Israeli-French citizen Elia Toledano, 28, who was kidnapped from an electronic music festival, and two 19-year-old soldiers.

The deaths were announced as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told the US and Israel discuss a schedule for scaling back the offensive against Hamas, even as they agree that the entire battle will take months.

Sullivan also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the besieged enclave’s future after the war.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has expressed concern over Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of the Gaza Strip, but the White House continues to offer Israel full support with arms deliveries and diplomatic support.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling continued Friday, including in the southern city of Rafah, part of the shrinking areas of the tiny, densely populated Gaza Strip where Palestinian civilians had been ordered by Israel to evacuate.