TEL AVIV — This year has already been the deadliest Palestinians have experienced in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in many years. But a brazen Israeli special forces operation before dawn Tuesday, which killed five Palestinians, including at least one militant, and wounded 20, was this year's single bloodiest confrontation in the West Bank yet.
Israel's target was not one of its usual suspects, like the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups. It was the Lions' Den, a new renegade group of young armed men, many in their teens and early 20s. They are small in number — analysts estimate between 50 to 100 — but big in influence.
