There is widespread coverage of the continuing search in the West Bank by Israeli security forces for three teenage boys kidnapped on Thursday night. Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaer, 16 and Naftali Frenkel, 16 disappeared after hitchhiking in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank. Israeli security forces have been combing the Hebron area in particular ever since. The Guardian, Telegraph, Times, Independent, Financial Times, Independent i, Sun and Metro all report that Israeli forces have arrested dozens of members of Hamas, with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that the organisation is responsible for the kidnapping. The Independent notes that the Palestinian Authority (PA) have helped Israel with the search for the teenagers, in a move condemned by Hamas. PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction recently entered a unity government with Hamas.

The Times reports on the precarious position of the Druze residents of the town of Madj al-Shams in the Israeli part of the Golan Heights, straddling the border with Syria. The article details the close familial connections which many residents have with the Druze community on the other side of the border and their subsequent loyalty to Syria’s President Assad.

The Guardian online reports that an unnamed American official has said that the United States is preparing to open a direct dialogue with Iran over how to deal with the military success of Sunni Jihadist group ISIS in Iraq. The Times online says that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham suggested such action over the weekend during media interviews. Writing in the Guardian, Ian Black says that the prospect of US-Iran cooperation is “intriguing” and that it will be “fascinating” to see if the possibility of such collaboration will impact the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) which are set to resume in Vienna today.

The Israeli media this morning is thoroughly dominated by the search for the three kidnapped boys, with most dailies devoting a significant portion to it. Haaretz and Israel Hayom emphasise the increasing military operation to try to locate the youngsters, which last night reached the outskirts of Ramallah. Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Makor Rishon headline the attempts by one of the kidnapped boys to notify the police that he had been abducted, which was apparently thought to be a prank and as a result valuable search time was lost. Meanwhile, in Yediot Ahronot, a senior military official is quoted saying that the IDF is no longer “groping around in the dark”, with numerous arrests having been made.

Israel Radio news reports on a prayer session held yesterday at the Western Wall which was attended by tens of thousands of worshippers who prayed for the safe return of the youngsters.

In addition, Israel Radio news also reports that two rockets were fired at the southern city of Ashkelon yesterday, but were intercepted successfully by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. In response, Israel’s Air Force struck two sites of terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip and reported accurate hits on its targets. Palestinian reports say that four people were injured in the strikes, including a three year old child.