"As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo. We regret the error and any issues this may have caused," the White House said in a statement to media.
The description under the original Instagram post said Biden had a chance to meet with "first responders" to thank them for their bravery amid the escalation in Israel. The service members were immediately recognized as forces assigned to one of the US elite special operations detachments, "Delta Force."
Before being taking down, the image, which managed to gain more than 6,000 likes and 792 comments from users, showed six men in total wearing combat gear and camouflage.
The US has dispatched a small group of special forces in Israel in an advisory capacity in relation to Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants following the start of the Palestine-Israel conflict.
During a Thursday briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder referred all questions regarding the photo blunder to the White House and refused to confirm whether any US special operations forces are in Israel at the moment.
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