The bodies of three Israeli teenagers who went missing in the occupied West Bank earlier this month have been found.

The discovery was made near the village of Halhul, close to where 16-year-olds Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar and 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach disappeared on June 12th.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking before a meeting of his security cabinet, said: "Hamas is responsible. Hamas will pay."

He added the teenagers "were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by wild beasts".

Since the discovery there have been a number of airstrikes on Palestinian territories, but no reports of injuries.

Any Israeli action to punish Hamas for the alleged murders would open "the gates of hell," a Hamas spokesman said.

Irish journalist John Costello spoke to Newstalk's Breakfast from Tel Aviv:

Israel has accused the Palestinian Hamas group of abducting the youths as they were hitch-hiking home near Hebron late at night.

But Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has denied it was involved in their disappearance.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner is a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces:

Shot on capture

The teenagers' bodies were found buried under rocks in a field a few miles north of Hebron.

The trio had apparently been shot soon after they were taken, according to security officials.

US President Barack Obama condemned the deaths as a "senseless act of terror against innocent youth" while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it a "heinous act by enemies of peace".

Palestinians detained

Dozens of Palestinians have been detained in the search for Mr Frenkel from Nof Ayalon, who had dual Israeli-American citizenship, Mr Shaar from Telman and Mr Yifrach from Elad.

Among those held were a number of Hamas members of the Palestinian parliament and several prisoners recently released by Israel.

The teenagers were all students at a Yeshiva, or religious school, in Gush Etzion, a Jewish settlement bloc just south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.