Summary Abbas's office issued a statement condemning the kidnapping of the three youths.
RAMALLAH (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Monday condemned the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, but also hit out at the massive Israeli crackdown aimed at finding those responsible, a statement said.
"The Palestinian presidency... condemns the series of events that happened last week, beginning with the kidnapping of three Israeli youths," it said, also denouncing a massive wave of Israeli arrests during which a young Palestinian was killed near Ramallah overnight.
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and said he expected him to help ensure the safe return of three kidnapped teenagers.
It was their first telephone conversation in nearly a year, and came as Israeli forces conducted the biggest arrest operation in years, focusing predominantly on the Hamas movement which Netanyahu has accused of kidnapping the three youths in the southern West Bank.
The youths' disappearance came 10 days after the establishment of a new Palestinian government pieced together by Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas following a unity agreement between rival leaders in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel has furiously denounced the reconciliation accord, with Netanyahu warning Abbas that an alliance with Hamas spelt nothing but trouble.
