Hamas security forces on Wednesday freed three Palestinian journalists whom they arrested last month and accused of fabricating news critical of the Islamist group, officials said.

The journalists worked in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for the Palestine Press, a local news agency with ties to the group's main rival, President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

A Hamas internal security official said the three men were released after they confessed that they had "fabricated reports" critical of the Hamas cabinet and its security forces.

One of the journalists, speaking to reporters and human rights officials said after their release: "We made a mistake and it won't be repeated."

The Hamas security official said the release followed "intense intervention by fellow journalists" who appealed to the group's leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh.