The Israeli army has re-arrested 51 former Palestinian prisoners in a furious search for three missing teenagers believed to have been abducted in the West Bank.

Army spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said the 51 were among more than 65 Palestinians detained overnight in the search for the youngsters. They were part of a group of 1,027 Palestinians released in 2011 from Israeli prisons in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in 2006.

Israel believes Hamas was behind the abduction of the teenagers, who disappeared last week on the way home from a religious seminary.

Lt Col Lerner said that since the disappearance, a total of 240 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank.

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