Israeli troops mistakenly killed three hostages during intense fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials said, with the prisoners being wrongly identified as potential threats after they apparently escaped from their Hamas captors.

The Israeli Defense Forces expressed “deep sorrow” for the deaths, which came Friday amid fierce fighting in northern Gaza. The IDF offensive in Gaza, now well into its second month, is a response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack that killed more than 1,200 in Israel and resulted in the taking of more than 240 hostages.

More than 100 of those hostages were released during a brief cease-fire late last month, but the rest remain in the hands of Hamas militants. Three of those hostages appear to have escaped captivity at some point recently, officials told Israeli media, and they were mistakenly identified as threats to IDF forces during an operation in the city of Shejaiya on Friday.

In a series of social media posts, IDF spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said the three hostages were killed by Israeli gunfire. Adm. Hagari said that the three hostages “fled or were abandoned by the terrorists who held them captive,” the Times of Israel reported, raising questions about whether additional prisoners may have either escaped or been left behind by Hamas fighters.

Israeli soldiers quickly realized a mistake had been made.

“During a scan and inspection of the area of the incident, a suspicion arose regarding the identity of the dead. The bodies were taken for examination in Israeli territory, after which it turned out that they were three Israeli abductees,” Adm. Hagari said.

One of the hostages was identified as Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kfar Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7. Another was identified as Samer Talalka, kidnapped from Nir Am during the Hamas attack. The third hostage has not been publicly identified.

“The IDF began investigating the incident immediately. This is a combat zone where there have been many incidents in recent days. Immediate lessons from the event are now being passed on to all the fighting forces in the field,” Adm. Hagari said on X. “The IDF expresses deep sorrow for the incident and shares in the grief of the families. The IDF will continue to act in all efforts to return the abductees home.”

The intense Israeli military campaign has driven many Hamas members — and, presumably, the hostages they are holding — out of northern Gaza and toward the southern part of the Palestinian enclave, which is now also home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled the fighting.

About 100 hostages, mostly women and children, were released during a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas late last month. In exchange, Israel temporarily halted hostilities in Gaza and also released about 240 Palestinian prisoners from its own jails.

That cease-fire lapsed on Dec. 1 and IDF forces quickly resumed their counteroffensive.

• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.