Israel arrests more Palestinians in hunt for teens

IJERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli security forces have arrested 10 more Palestinians in the West Bank as they press their search for three teenagers believed to have been kidnapped, the army said on Saturday.

"Ten people were arrested overnight, bringing to 330 the number of wanted Palestinians arrested since the beginning of the operation," a spokesman said.

Israel accuses Hamas of kidnapping two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old who went missing on June 12 at a hitch-hiking stop in the West Bank, an allegation the Islamist group has dismissed.

Public radio said those arrested included people who had been released from Israeli jails as part of the 2011 deal to free soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been captured and then held by Hamas for five years. The army declined to confirm that report.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, a 60-year-old man died of a heart attack he suffered as Israeli troops searched outside his house, Palestinian security sources said.

Separately, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip in to southern Israeli, striking near the city of Ashkelon without causing any casualties, the army said.

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