Five soldiers were tragically killed by friendly fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

In a statement by the IDF, the deceased were named as Cpt. Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, from Eli, Staff Sgt. Gilad Aryeh Boim, 22, from Karnei Shomron, Sgt. Daniel Chemnu, 20, from Tiberias, Sgt. Ilan Cohen, 20, from Karmiel, and Staff Sgt. Betzalel David Shashua, 21, from Tel Aviv.

Initial investigations suggest that the soldiers were gathered in a building in Jabaliya when a tank operating alongside them mistakenly fired two shells at their position around 7 p.m., believing it was enemy forces due to a misidentified gun barrel from one of the windows.

Their tragic deaths deaths bring the grim toll of Israeli troops killed in the ongoing ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza to 278, with at least 49 fatalities attributed to friendly fire incidents and other operational accidents amid the intense urban warfare.

Jabaliya, one of the first areas targeted in Israel’s ground invasion launched in late October, has witnessed a resurgence of fierce fighting in recent days. Israeli forces recently returned after identifying Hamas operatives regrouping in the densely populated refugee camp, encountering massive RPG fire. Just a day prior, a soldier was wounded when an RPG struck an armored vehicle in Jabaliya. Over 150 Hamas terrorists in Jabaliya have been eliminated so far in the operation, according to the IDF statement.