"Three yeshiva students in their teens are believed to have been kidnapped in the West Bank, Israeli officials announced Friday afternoon. The IDF spokesperson's office said they lost contact with the three Thursday overnight. Israeli security forces were conducting a widespread operation to locate them, the IDF said. 'Since the morning, we have been engaged in operational activity designed to find [them] and bring them [back],' said Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz, the commander of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. 'Over the past several hours, there has been a very large intelligence effort to try and determine what happened with those youths since they disappeared.' Facts that might interfere with the ongoing investigation, he said, were being withheld at this time. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the families of the missing teenagers,urged them to remain strong and told them the State of Israel would do everything possible for their sons. He promised to keep them updated. The Prime Minister's Office said it held the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for their well-being."