Palestinians 'fear worse to come'

Gaza has been under aerial bombardment by Israel

A British volunteer in the Gaza Strip has said civilians there believe there is worse to come after seven days of bombardment by Israeli forces.

Jenny Linnell, 33, who left her job in a Totnes cafe to work for the International Solidarity Movement, said Palestinians feared a land invasion.

Ms Linnell, a vegan chef, has been documenting the attacks from a refugee camp in Rafah, on the Egyptian border.

Israel says its strikes are to prevent rocket attacks from Gaza.

More than 400 people have died in the Israeli bombardment since it began on 27 January. The UN says at least 100 of them were civilians.

Four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired into Israel from Gaza, which have hit towns up to 25 miles (40km) from the narrow coastal strip.

Ms Linnell said: "The Palestinian people have never seen anything like this before, nothing on this scale.

Everyone knows anyone can be hit at any time Jenny Linnell

"There is no such thing as normal life here at the moment, everyone knows anyone can be hit at any time."

Ms Linnell, whose family live in Leicester, said she was able to stay in contact with them - apart from during the attacks when the phone networks went down.

Ms Linnell said her role was to witness and record what was going on in the area.

She said a pharmacy in the residential neighbourhood of Hi Alijnina in Rafah had been hit by a missile.

"The street was littered with medicines.

"Later that day, the Israeli air-strikes on Rafah escalated with a multiple hit on the area bordering Egypt."

A spokesman for the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israel had been "left with no other choice" but to retaliate against missile attacks from Gaza.

"Hamas recently violated the calm of the past few months and opened massive missile fire on the communities of southern Israel in a blatant attempt to strike residential areas, schools, kindergartens and shopping centres.

"Israel conducted itself with maximum restraint and appealed to the Palestinians to cease these attacks and resume the ceasefire."