Israel stiffens conditions for Hamas prisoners

Israel decided Tuesday to stiffen imprisonment conditions for Palestinian prisoners affiliated with the Islamic Hamas movement, an Israeli official said.

The move came in response to the organisation's alleged connection to the kidnapping of three Israeli teens.

The Israeli government made the decision in a meeting attended by several security and law-enforcement ministers, Xinhua reported the official as saying but the official did not specify how the country would do to materialise the proposal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during Sunday's cabinet meeting that Hamas is behind the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers who are believed to be abducted near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

They also discussed the possibility of deporting senior members of the Hamas movement, according to the same source.

"Israel's main goal is to get the boys back," the official told Xinhua anonymously. "It is also important for the world to see the real face of Hamas and the unity government, and understand why we cannot make peace with it," he added.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would be held accountable for the safety of the three missing Israelis.

There has been an ongoing manhunt involving thousands of Israeli security forces across the West Bank since the weekend, in which nearly 200 Hamas members were arrested.

Earlier, Islamist Hamas movement Tuesday warned Israel over the tough measures that the Israeli security forces are taking against its leaders and lawmakers in the West Bank.

"The Zionist enemy is held fully responsible for the consequences of its crimes against our striking prisoners, against our people in the West Bank and Gaza, and against the PLC (Palestinian Legislative Council) lawmakers.