The government this morning condemned the kidnap and murder of three teenagers, found in the West Bank. It expressed its regret and sent condolences to their families and the people of Israel.

The three missing youths were discovered by the Israeli military.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed: "Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay." But Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, warned Israel against any broad offensive.

Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared on June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish seminaries where they were studying near the West Bank city of Hebron. Despite the dangers, hitchhiking is common among Israelis travelling in and out of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In an operation codenamed Brother's Keeper, Israel dispatched thousands of troops across the West Bank in search of the youths, closed roads in the area and arrested 400 Hamas operatives throughout the territory. The search ended yesterday afternoon with the discovery of the bodies under a pile of rocks in a field north of Hebron.

The Maltese government also expressed its regret at the death of Palestinian citizens killed during the search for the teenagers. It said it still believed all that was possible should be done for those carrying out such a heinous crime to get justice.

It expressed its lack of agreement that all Palestinians, including those who were innocent and were of good will, should be subject to collective punishment.

The government said it considered such an ugly and condemnable episode a major stop back in relations between the two peoples and condemned all acts of retaliation from whichever side.

Such behaviour mitigated the hope that the two peoples would one day reconcile, it said.