The Israeli army yesterday admitted that three Palestinians who were shot dead by soldiers late on Wednesday were unarmed, retracting an earlier statement which claimed the troops had killed two gunmen. A new statement said that Israeli troops were pursuing "a group of armed gunmen" who were believed to be planning an attack in the Gaza Strip and had fired on a car in which they thought the men were fleeing the area. While the army admitted that three occupants of the car who were killed were unarmed, it said two of them were Islamic Jihad activists. The army spokesman said that the area where the car was travelling was the scene of several recent attacks on Israeli targets by Palestinian armed fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, said he will speed up the building of the controversial wall. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Three bodies of the Al Simiri family lie in the Der Al Balah morgue prior to burial near the Kfar Darom Jewish settlement, in the central Gaza Strip November 27, 2003. (REUTERS/Jerry Lampen)