The bodies of the three captives, Corporal Nik Beizer, Sergeant Ron Sherman and French-Israeli Elia Toledano, were brought back to Israel in December.

"The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF air strike," the military said in a statement, referring to the three captives.

The military added that the strike, carried out on November 10, 2023, targeted a senior Hamas commander but unintentionally killed captives who intelligence suggested were in a different location.

"This assessment is based on the location of where their bodies were found in relation to the strike's impact, performance analysis of the strike, intelligence findings, the results of the pathological reports, and the conclusions of the Forensic Medicine Institute."

"This is a high-probability assessment based on all of the available information, but it is not possible to definitively determine the circumstances of their deaths," the military said.

The bodies of the three captives were recovered on December 14.

Israel's war on Gaza has so far killed at least 41,206 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

At the beginning of the war Hamas fighters seized 251 captives, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli army says are dead.

While 105 captives were released during a one-week truce in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails, three captives were killed by Israeli fire.

Yotam Haim, Samer El-Talalqa and Alon Shamriz were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops in December in north Gaza, according to the occupation army.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.