DHAKA: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas of kidnapping three Israeli teenagers.

The students went missing on Thursday near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on their way back from lessons.

Hamas has denied it was involved in their disappearance.

The disappearance is being seen as the biggest strain on relations between the two sides since a Palestinian unity government was announced in April.

‘Those who carried out the kidnapping of our youngsters are Hamas people,’ Netanyahu said, reports the BBC.

Netanyahu pointed to the fact that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas recently announced a unity government backed by Hamas.

BDST: 2121 HRS, JUNE 15, 2014