Israel Defence Force (IDF) troops mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages in northern Gaza’s Shejaiya neighborhood as a threat and opened fire at them, killing them, IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced Friday evening.

Hagari said the IDF bears full responsibility for the “tragic incident,” which took place on Friday morning, “in an area where the soldiers encountered many terrorists, including suicide bombers.”

The hostages who were killed by IDF firing were identified as Yotam Haim, who was abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Samar Fouad Talalka, who was abducted from Nir Am. The third hostage was later named as Alon Shamriz, also from Kfar Aza.

“During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified 3 Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed. Their bodies were transferred to Israeli territory for examination where it was confirmed that they were 3 Israeli hostages and were identified,” the IDF said in a statement on X.

The IDF began reviewing the incident immediately, it said.

“The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred. Immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field,” the statement said.

“The IDF expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences. Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home,” it added.