Five Palestinians dead in West Bank gun battle

At least five Palestinian fugitives were killed today in the West Bank city of Nablus during a fierce gun battle with Israeli soldiers, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said.

The army surrounded a building in Nablus where wanted militants were holed up, Palestinian witnesses said. A gun battle erupted, and security officials said at least five of the armed men were killed. The sixth man was injured.

Basma Masri, a Nablus resident, said she spoke to her son, who was one of the armed men in the house, during the exchange of fire. Masri said her son told her that he and his five friends had run out of ammunition.

A military official could not confirm that armed Palestinians had been killed, but confirmed that a fierce gun battle had erupted during an army operation in Nablus.