DHAKA: The Israeli army has recovered the bodies of three teenage settlers who went missing in the West Bank earlier this month.

The incident feared to trigger of a broader military crackdown in the occupied territories, reports the Aljazeera.

The bodies of the settlers were found in a field near the village of Halhoul on Monday, not far from where Israeli troops first started searching after they vanished on June 12.

The Israeli army responded to the discovery of the bodies by launching at least two dozen airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The trio were hitchhiking home from a religious school in Kfar Etzion, an illegal settlement between Bethlehem and Hebron, and were last heard in a brief emergency call to police.

Israel has blamed Hamas for the murders, though it has offered no evidence to support that claim.

The Israeli security cabinet also held an emergency meeting on Monday night, which ended with no major decisions on further actions, according to a government source. The cabinet will reconvene on Tuesday.

“Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

The group dismissed the accusations in a statement, calling them propaganda. “We warn Israel against any stupid action. If Israel wants a war, the price they will pay will be greater than in previous wars,” it said.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation's Hanan Ashrawi told Al Jazeera that the "Israeli escalation already took place, and now they have an excuse of further escalation.”

BDST: 1037 HRS, JULY 1, 2014