Five Palestinians killed amid mounting violence ahead of Israeli elections

21 people also wounded in one of deadliest operations this year by Israeli forces in West Bank

Five Palestinians have been killed and 21 wounded in a huge raid by Israeli forces in Nablus, one of the deadliest operations so far during a year of mounting violence in the occupied West Bank.

Snipers, soldiers with shoulder-launched missiles and members of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency attacked the old city in the early hours of Tuesday, the Israeli military said, blowing up what it said was a bomb lab and killing one of the leaders of an increasingly popular Palestinian militant group in a gunfight.