The Israeli army mistakenly killed three captives, including two soldiers, during a raid on Gaza in December and concealed it from the public, Anadolu reports citing Israeli media.

Israel’s Channel 12 said the three Israeli captives — Nik Beizer, Ron Sherman and Elia Toledano — were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a senior military leader of the Palestinian group Hamas in northern Gaza.

According to the channel, the Israeli army did not know there were Israeli captives present along with the Hamas leader but has known the details of their deaths since February but chose not to publicize them.

In mid-December, the army said it retrieved the bodies of three Israelis from a tunnel who were captured alive by Hamas on Oct 7 last year.

Commenting on the report, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the army is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the three Israelis and will present the results to their families.