Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Israel's army says it has arrested 40 more Palestinians in the West Bank, expanding searches for three missing Israeli teens who Israel believes Hamas kidnapped last week.

The arrests early Tuesday brought the total number of Palestinians detained since the kidnapping to over 200, most of them Hamas activists. It's the biggest West Bank crackdown on Hamas in almost a decade.

The latest arrests took place in the northern city of Nablus, widening the army's search that had been focused on the southern city of Hebron. Activists from the Western-backed Palestinian president's Fatah faction were among detained in the latest arrests.

Also, the military says Israeli warplanes struck four weapons manufacturing and storage sites in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, in response to a rocket launched from Gaza to Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the Palestinian Authority and Hamas responsible for the Thursday night disappearance of the teens. Netanyahu said they were "kidnapped by a terror group."

The Palestinians have rejected blame, saying the teens went missing in territory under full Israeli control.

*Associated Press