Image copyright Reuters Image caption Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach went missing near Hebron on 12 June 
 
 Three Israeli teenagers who were abducted earlier this month in the West Bank have been found dead. 
 
 An Israeli military spokesman said their bodies were found in a pit near the town of Halhul, north of Hebron. 
 
 Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, both aged 16, and 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach were last seen at a junction near Hebron as they hitchhiked home. 
 
 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas was responsible, a claim the Palestinian militant group has denied. 
 
 At the start of a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, Mr Netanyahu said the three were "kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by animals" and promised: "Hamas will pay". 
 
 But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the AFP news agency that any action to punish the movement would "open the gates of hell". 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Israeli forces were seen massing in the area of Halhul earlier on Monday evening 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Many Israelis have gathered outside the home of one of the dead teenagers, Eyal Yifrach 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The abduction of the three seminary students sparked a huge search operation 
 
 Analysis: Yolande Knell, BBC News, Jerusalem 
 
 This site where the teenagers' bodies were found is just 10 minutes' drive from where the young Israelis were last seen two-and-a-half weeks ago. 
 
 Halhul is a turnoff from Route 60 - a busy road connecting the southern West Bank with Jerusalem. I watched Israeli soldiers operate a roadblock at this junction in the first days of their search. 
 
 Israeli officials accuse the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas of killing the young Israelis. There are now calls for the group to be "eradicated". 
 
 These deaths are a tragedy for the families of the Israeli students, but they could also have deep political implications. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev: "All of Israel is united in mourning" 
 
 Israel's Shin Bet security service earlier said the main suspects in the case were two men named Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh and that they were "Hamas operatives". 
 
 Forensic teams were in the area and searches were continuing in an effort to capture "all those involved in this attack", it added. 
 
 'Deep grief' 
 
 Israeli security forces have set up blockades and closed down whole areas around Halhul, which is just a few kilometres from where the teenagers were last seen. 
 
 Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett wrote on Facebook: "Murderers of children and those who direct them cannot be forgiven. Now is a time for actions, not words." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Kevin Connolly says Israel will be "united in grief" 
 
 Israeli President Shimon Peres said the "whole nation is in deep grief". 
 
 "Amid our deep sorrow, we remain determined to fiercely punish the criminal terrorists," he added. 
 
 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership to discuss the teenagers' deaths. 
 
 Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri wrote on Facebook : "The occupation bears responsibility for escalation. Netanyahu tries to turn the picture upside down and he must understand his threats do not terrify us." 
 
 International condemnation 
 
 US President Barack Obama White House has condemned the "senseless act of terror against innocent youth," and urged "all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation". 
 
 One of the teenagers, Naftali Frenkel, held dual Israeli-American citizenship. 
 
 A spokesman for Pope Francis, in the Vatican, condemned the killing of the teenagers as a "hideous and unacceptable crime" and "a grave obstacle on the path towards peace," Reuters reports. 
 
 Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on both sides to "refrain from any actions that could further escalate this highly tense situation". 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Violence erupted in Jenin last week after Israel carried out military raids in the hunt for the teenagers 
 
 The abduction of the three Jewish seminary students on 12 June sparked a huge search operation in Palestinian towns and cities across the West Bank. 
 
 More than 400 Palestinians have been arrested, while five have been killed in fighting with Israeli troops. 
 
 Earlier, there were reports of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the Halhul area. 
 
 The case has put serious strain on relations between Israel and the Palestinians. 
 
 Mr Netanyahu has said the incident is a consequence of "the partnership" between Hamas and the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The two signed a reconciliation deal in April after years of division and formed a unity government earlier this month. ||||| JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military found the bodies of three missing teenagers on Monday, just over two weeks after they were abducted in the West Bank, allegedly by Hamas militants — a grisly discovery that culminated a feverish search that led to Israel's largest ground operation in the Palestinian territory in nearly a decade and raised fears of renewed fighting with Hamas. 
 
 Friends and relatives of Naftali Fraenkel, 16, one of three missing teenagers, gather outside of his home after the announcement his body was found earlier today near the West Bank town of Hebron, at... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Israeli soldier blocks a road in the village of Halhul, near the West Bank town of Hebron, where the bodies of the three missing Israeli teenagers were found, Monday, June 30, 2014. The Israeli military... (Associated Press) 
 
 Orthodox Jews, family and friends of Israeli Eyal Yifrah, 19, one of three missing teenagers, gather outside of his home in Elad, central Israel, Monday, June 30, 2014. The Israeli military found the... (Associated Press) 
 
 Israeli police officers block a road with their police vehicles in the village of Halhul, near the West Bank town of Hebron, where the bodies of the three missing Israeli teenagers were found, Monday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 This undated image released by the Israel Defense Forces shows a combination of three photos of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American... (Associated Press) 
 
 Israeli soldiers stage in the village of Halhul, near the West Bank town of Hebron, where the bodies of the three missing Israeli teenagers were found, Monday, June 30, 2014. The Israeli military found... (Associated Press) 
 
 Friends and relatives of Naftali Fraenkel, 16, one of three missing teenagers, gather outside of his home after the announcement his body was found earlier today near the West Bank town of Hebron, at... (Associated Press) 
 
 Jewish women, family and friends of Israeli Eyal Yifrah, 19, one of three missing teenagers, gather outside of his home in Elad, central Israel, Monday, June 30, 2014. The Israeli military found the bodies... (Associated Press) 
 
 Orthodox Jews, family and friends of Israeli Eyal Yifrah, 19, one of three missing teenagers, gather out side of his home in Elad, central Israel, Monday, June 30, 2014. The Israeli military found the... (Associated Press) 
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed tough action as he convened an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet. 
 
 "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay," the Israeli leader said in a statement, adding the teenagers "were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals." In Washington, President Barack Obama urged restraint. 
 
 Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish seminaries where they were studying near the West Bank city of Hebron. Despite the dangers, hitchhiking is common among Israelis traveling in and out of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. 
 
 Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the bodies were found "under a pile of rocks" near the village of Halhul, just north of Hebron. 
 
 Binyamin Proper, who was among the civilian volunteers who found the bodies, told Channel 2 TV that a member of the search party "saw something suspicious on the ground, plants that looked out of place, moved them and moved some rocks and then found the bodies. We realized it was them and we called the army." 
 
 Shortly after the abductions, Israel accused Hamas of being responsible and launched a frantic manhunt throughout the West Bank, arresting nearly 400 Hamas militants. Last week, Israel identified two well-known Hamas operatives as the chief suspects. The two men remained on the run late Monday. 
 
 The search for the teens captured the nation's attention. The Israeli media delivered round-the-clock updates, and the mothers of the three teens became high-profile figures as they campaigned for their sons' return. At one point, the women addressed the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva to draw attention to their plight. Israelis held daily prayer vigils, including mass gatherings attended by tens of thousands of people at the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site in Judaism, and in a downtown square in Tel Aviv. 
 
 News of their deaths prompted an outpouring of grief among Israelis. Friends and neighbors rushed to the homes of the families in the Israeli towns of Nof Ayalon and Elad, and the West Bank settlement of Talmon, while supporters lit memorial candles and prayed. Large crowds gathered in Tel Aviv's central Rabin Square, and at the West Bank junction where the youths were abducted, singing songs and lighting candles shaped in the names of the youths or the Jewish Star of David. 
 
 "All of Israel bows its head today," said President Shimon Peres. 
 
 Thousands of Israelis have died in wars and militant attacks over the years, and Israel has grappled with the kidnappings of soldiers by militant groups in the past. But the ages of the victims, and the fact that they were not armed, seemed to strike a raw nerve. With Israeli soldiers ordered not to hitchhike, security officials have long feared that civilians in the West Bank could make easy targets for kidnappers. 
 
 Hamas frequently encourages its members to try to kidnap Israelis, believing hostages could be used to win the release of militants detained in Israeli prisons. Tensions had also been high since the shooting deaths in May of two Palestinian teens during a stone-throwing clash with Israeli security forces. 
 
 Netanyahu was huddling with his Security Cabinet, a group of senior government ministers, late Monday debating a response. But Israel's options could be limited. 
 
 After a two-week crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank, few major targets remain in the West Bank. Hamas had already been weakened by seven years of pressure by Israel and the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli troops seemed to find very little during the latest crackdown. 
 
 Israel could turn its attention toward the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is the main power. Israel has already been battling a wave of rocket fire from Gaza that erupted in response to its West Bank operation, and it could step up the intensity of its reprisals. 
 
 Israel has not publicly provided much evidence proving Hamas involvement, and it is not clear whether the kidnappers received orders from higher-ups or acted on their own. The group praised the kidnappings, but never claimed responsibility. 
 
 In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel against any broad offensive. Gaza militants possess thousands of rockets, and would almost certainly unleash heavy barrages at Israel if Israel attacks. 
 
 "Netanyahu should know that threats don't scare Hamas, and if he wages a war on Gaza, the gates of hell will open on him," he said. 
 
 Netanyahu's spokesman, Mark Regev, said Israel would step up its calls for Abbas to dissolve the unity government he recently formed with the backing of Hamas. 
 
 Abbas has condemned the kidnappings, and his forces coordinated closely with Israel during the search for the teens. But he has so far refused Israeli calls to end the unity government, which ended a seven-year rift with Hamas. The Palestinian president called an urgent meeting of the Palestinian leadership on Tuesday to discuss the events, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said. 
 
 Abdallah Abdallah, an adviser to Abbas, said the Palestinians regretted the loss of life. 
 
 "We want peace to be created in this part of the world so no mother or no family will be bereaved for the loss of their beloved ones, Palestinian or Israeli," he said. 
 
 Abbas says his new Cabinet is committed to his political program seeking peace with Israel. Hamas is not part of his government, but has lent its backing from the outside. 
 
 The unity deal ostensibly ended seven years of Hamas rule in Gaza. But the militant group remains in firm control of the seaside territory. 
 
 In Washington, Obama condemned the killings and sent his "deepest and heartfelt condolences" to the families of the youths. "As a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing," he said. He also urged "all parties" to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation. 
 
 Pope Francis, who in May visited the region, shared in the teens' families "unspeakable pain," said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. In a statement, Lombardi said the "abominable and unacceptable" crime was a grave obstacle to peace and that Francis was praying that God "inspires all thoughts of compassion and peace." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Josh Lederman in Washington and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report. ||||| Story highlights Israel carries out airstrikes against nearly three dozen targets in Gaza 
 
 "It's just too sad to even imagine," victim's aunt tells CNN 
 
 "Hamas will pay" for the deaths, says the Israeli Prime Minister 
 
 Hamas spokesman warns against escalation 
 
 Tensions between Israel and Hamas ratcheted up Monday after the bodies of three Israeli teenagers, kidnapped this month, were found in the West Bank. 
 
 Israel, in no uncertain terms, blames the disappearances and deaths on Hamas. 
 
 "Hamas will pay," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 
 
 Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned against escalation, saying that if Netanyahu "brings a war on Gaza, the gates of hell will open to him." 
 
 The three bodies were found northwest of Hebron, according to the Israeli military, which said they were still in the process of being identified. 
 
 The teens -- Eyal Yifrach, 19; Gilad Shaar, 16; and Naftali Frankel, a 16-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen -- disappeared late June 12 or early June 13 from the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in the West Bank, the military said. 
 
 "Although the identification has not been officially confirmed, I would like to send my support and condolences to the Shaar, Frankel and Yifrach families," Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, with the Israel Defense Forces, told reporters. 
 
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 He vowed to pursue those responsible. 
 
 "The war on terror continues. It didn't begin now and it will not be over soon," Alon told reporters. 
 
 "We will do whatever it takes to deter Hamas and other terrorists and we'll continue to fight terror using every legal means at our disposal." 
 
 An aunt of one of the victims told CNN she was still in shock. 
 
 "I'm holding his picture and I see his smile," said Leehy Shaar, Gilad Shaar's aunt. "He's so young and innocent ... It's just too sad to even imagine." 
 
 'United in mourning' 
 
 Netanyahu called an emergency security Cabinet meeting about the issue Monday. 
 
 "All Israel tonight is united in mourning the three teens who were brutally murdered by the Hamas terrorists," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, stressing that Israel will "continue to act against Hamas in order to protect our people." 
 
 "Hamas says every Israeli man, woman and child, every civilian, is a legitimate target for these sort of terrorist attacks, so we're totally within our rights to protect ourselves against those Hamas terrorists who want to kill our people," Regev said. 
 
 When asked whether he holds the Palestinian Authority responsible in any way for the teens' deaths, he responded: "It's clear that the terrorists came from areas under Palestinian Authority control and returned to territories under Palestinian Authority control." 
 
 The spokesman urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to annul his pact with Hamas. 
 
 His comments were echoed by U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, chairman of the House Middle East and North Africa subcommittee; and Ted Deutch, D-Florida, ranking member of that subcommittee. 
 
 "We will continue to support the government of Israel in its efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, and we offer the people of Israel our deepest and most heartfelt condolences as we grieve with them. If it is determined that Hamas is behind this horrific tragedy, Abu Mazen must immediately break up the unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization," they said in a statetment. 
 
 Abu Mazen is another name for Abbas, whose government now includes Hamas, which controls Gaza. 
 
 Global outcry 
 
 Abbas called an emergency meeting of his own. The Palestinian leadership is expected to meet Tuesday to discuss the developments. 
 
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 U.S. President Barack Obama, Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were among world leaders condemning the killings Monday. 
 
 "As a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing. The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms this senseless act of terror against innocent youth," Obama said in a statement. 
 
 He continued: "From the outset, I have offered our full support to Israel and the Palestinian Authority to find the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice, and I encourage Israel and the Palestinian Authority to continue working together in that effort. I also urge all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation." 
 
 Last week, the Israel Security Agency said it believed that two "Hamas activists from Hebron" were behind the teens' disappearances. It identified them as Marwan Qawasmeh, 29, and Amar Abu-Isa, 32. 
 
 As Israeli media were reporting on the bodies' discovery Monday night, Israeli forces were blocking roads into Hebron, a city in the southern West Bank. Fighter jets could be heard flying low over Gaza. 
 
 Overnight into Tuesday, more than 40 Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, according to Palestinian security and medical sources. The strikes targeted Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups, the sources said. 
 
 The Israeli military later said that forces had carried out strikes against 34 targets in Gaza, targeting terror infrastructure, after the firing of 18 rockets at Israel since Sunday evening. 
 
 Within days after the teens disappeared, Israeli security forces conducted an extensive search for them and detained more than 150 Palestinian suspects. 
 
 Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the kidnappings almost immediately. A Hamas spokesman said in the days after the abductions that the Prime Minister's comments attributing blame were "stupid and baseless." 
 
 Also in the days after the abductions, the mother of one of the teenagers spoke to reporters. 
 
 The three "were just on their way home," said Naftali's mother, Racheli Frankel. "We trust" that they "will be with us here, and we'll hug them soon."
– The three Israeli teenage boys missing since earlier this month have been found dead, according to the army and Israeli press reports, and CNN reports that PM Benjamin Netanyahu is swiftly responding by calling an emergency cabinet meeting. "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay," Netanyahu said in a statement, the AP reports. The boys "were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals." The bodies were found in a pit, reports the BBC, near the West Bank town where they went missing late June 12 or early June 13. Israel has blamed Hamas for the abductions, and initiated a massive crackdown in their aftermath. One of the teens was a US citizen.