There is widespread coverage of yesterday’s discovery of the bodies of the three Israeli youngsters kidnapped in the West Bank more than two weeks ago. Since the abduction, Israeli security forces conducted a huge operation to locate the missing teenagers. Their bodies were found yesterday afternoon north of Hebron. Israel last week named two Hamas members as the prime suspects in the kidnapping and both remain missing. The Guardian, Financial Times, Telegraph, Independent, i, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sun and Daily Mail all report the deaths of the three kidnapped youngsters and the initial response of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who vowed that Hamas will pay a heavy price for the murders. However, a meeting last night of Israel’s security cabinet reached no decisive conclusion on Israel’s response.

The online edition of the Telegraph says that US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki last night called the discovery of the bodies a “tragedy” but urged Israelis and Palestinians to continue to work together.

Elsewhere, the Guardian and Daily Mirror both report that the Iraqi army has failed in an attempt to recapture the city of Tikrit from ISIS forces, which this week declared a Muslim ‘caliphate’ in areas of Iraq and Syria. The Independent and i both analyse the regional impact of ISIS military gains, suggesting that Israel may be pleased to see Iran occupied with matters in neighbouring Iraq. In the Telegraph, Shahsank Joshi profiles ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and says that the group’s ambitions are nothing more than “imperial fantasies.” An editorial in the Evening Standard says that Iraq must not be split along sectarian lines, calling Israeli backing for an independent Kurdistan “unhelpful.”

The Guardian online reports that two Egyptian police officers were killed yesterday while attempting to diffuse a bomb outside the presidential palace in Cairo. The Financial Times says that Egypt’s President al-Sisi is preparing to take the unpopular decision to slash energy subsidies in order to help reduce the country’s huge deficit.

The Telegraph online reports on a study by the Boston Consulting Group, which found that Israelis value the internet more than anywhere else in the world.

The Israeli media is dominated by the discovery of the bodies yesterday of Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaer, 16 and Naftali Frenkel, 16, buried in a field just several miles from where they were kidnapped. The headline in Yediot Ahronot calls it “The bitter end” while Israel Hayom leads with “In the prime of their lives.” The story also dominates Maariv and Haaretz. Israel Radio news says that the operation to capture the two Hamas members thought to be responsible for the murders continues.

There is plenty of commentary surrounding Israel’s potential response to the killings. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea calls to “Fight them, but intelligently.” He says that Israel must continue to strike at Hamas, to strengthen deterrence, but must do so “surgically.” At the same time, Israel “must let the general Palestinian public go about its daily life,” or else risk an increase in Hamas’ popularity among Palestinians. Also in Yediot Ahronot, Alex Fishman similarly urges Prime Minister Netanyahu to “not act from the gut” but instead consult the United States and European countries. He comments, “The only thing that we must not do is bang our head against the wall and instead of achieving deterrence, end up with a stronger Hamas that enjoys international sympathy.” In Maariv, Ben Caspit assesses that Netanyahu “avoids unnecessary adventures, he does not take inordinate risks and, by nature, tries to maintain stability.”

Israel Radio news reports that five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel last night and that Israel’s Air Force responded by striking at least 30 strategic Gaza targets.