BBC online :
The Israeli army says it has arrested about 80 Palestinians as part of efforts to find three Israeli teenagers missing from the West Bank.
Israel said on Saturday that the three had been kidnapped by a “terror group”.
The students went missing near an Israeli settlement north of Hebron on their way back from evening lessons.
The disappearance is being seen as the biggest strain on relations between the two sides since a Palestinian unity government was announced in April.
Israel says an “intensive operation” is under way to find the two 16 year olds – Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar – and 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach.
They were last seen in the area of Gush Etzion, a bloc of Jewish settlements located between Jerusalem and the predominantly Palestinian city of Hebron.
Their fate has gripped Israel with rolling coverage on the main TV channels.
Many of those arrested were reportedly members of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Palestinian officials have said they are co-operating with the search. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already said he holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the teenagers’ wellbeing.
In response, Palestinian officials have pointed out that the three went missing in an area under full Israeli control.
In an earlier statement on the operation, the Israeli army pointed to the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and said the three may have been taken to be traded for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Sgt Shalit was freed in 2011 after Israel and Hamas agreed a deal under which more than 1,000 Palestinians were released.
Israel suspended crisis-hit peace talks with the Palestinians when a Hamas-backed Palestinian unity government was announced.
Israel insists it will not deal with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas.
Also on Sunday, the Israeli army said it had conducted aerial raids on the Gaza Strip overnight in retaliation for rockets fired from the Strip into Israel.
