Jerrold Kessel: Israel says conflict is full-scale guerrilla war

CNN correspondent Jerrold Kessel

(CNN) -- As violence increases in the Middle East, Israel says it is now engaged in a full-scale guerrilla war with the Palestinians.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel talked to CNN anchor Paula Zahn Thursday morning after Israeli helicopter gunships struck security and police targets and Israeli troops and tanks made their deepest incursion in Gaza City in over 17 months of violence. The following is his report.

KESSEL: Good morning, Paula. Yes, indeed, it has been another night and morning of very vigorous activity. The Palestinians are accusing the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon of unleashing an unremitting war to destroy the Palestinian Authority. Then, as you reported, Israel is saying that it is involved in a full-scale guerrilla war -- a counter-guerrilla war with the Palestinians.

And if that is the face of this new war, there was some indication of at least one scene of that down in the town of Rafah in the southern part of Gaza, where Israeli tanks made one of those incursions. They said they were looking for arms-smuggling from Egypt into Gaza. There were fierce gun battles launched there, and as the Israeli tanks made those incursions, Palestinian gunmen were firing at them. And we see some of the results of that: five Palestinians were killed, almost 20 wounded.

Israel is keeping up its unrelenting pressure as it mounts a series of pummeling air attacks, including on the base where Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is pinned up in the town of Ramallah on the West Bank