THE Israeli army arrested 41 more Palestinians in the West Bank early yesterday.

The arrests made it clear that Israel is using the search for three missing Jewish seminary students who disappeared last week as cover for an attempt to break the power of Hamas, which Israel has blamed for the apparent abductions without providing proof.

“We are turning Hamas membership into a ticket to hell,” said far-right Israel security cabinet member Naftali Bennett.

The arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained since the teenagers disappeared to over 200, most of them Hamas activists.

It has been the biggest West Bank crackdown on the group in almost a decade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly used the abductions to discredit the unity government that Fatah formed with Hamas backing earlier this month.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes struck three alleged weapons manufacturing and storage sites and another militant site.