Gaza voices: Israeli air strikes

There is tension and fear in the Gaza Strip following the Israeli bombing raids overnight.

The BBC News website spoke to three Palestinians in Gaza about what happened and their worries for the hours ahead.

DOAA ABU-HARB, STUDENT, RAFAH

I am in Rafah, about 600 metres from the border, but not near the Israeli military, thank God.

We have no electricity, so now I can't watch what is happening on television. I am listening to the radio which is on batteries, I don't know how long they will last.

The situation last night was so terrible. I heard a lot of shelling. I hear more shelling and guns this morning. I think Israel is planning a huge attack, so everybody will stay inside.

I have my small nephews in our home. If I am frightened in front of them I think they will die of fear.

I think things will get more dangerous, I hope we have a solution before another night comes. We are living, but we feel as if we are dead.

Power and force is not a good way, but we were obliged to use kidnapping, to use force against force. I think they must give the soldier back.

LAMA HOURANI, NGO WORKER, GAZA CITY

It is frightening, it is ugly. On all levels, it is not good.

They bombed the main power station which gives power to 40-50% of Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Authority, nearly half of Gaza is without electricity.

They say it will take a few months to repair.

"Nearly half of Gaza is without electricity"

All water needs to be pumped, so if we don't have power, we don't have water.

We installed a private generator at work last week, so we are lucky. But because of the closures we don't have enough fuel. So we can't even fuel the generator.

To be frank I don't know what should happen.

I know the kidnapping is legal because we are fighting an illegal occupation.

At the same I can see the consequences of it and I don't see political gain for the Palestinians.

REEM EL-ZAEEM, STUDENT, GAZA CITY

We couldn't sleep. One of the bridges that was hit is about two kilometres away.

We heard it all. It was terrifying.

I think this is the beginning, this is nothing.

We do have electricity, just in our area. I haven't spoken to anyone outside the house yet.

I feel like a prisoner.

The kidnapping was an act of revenge for all the innocent Palestinians who have been killed.

We are not going to forget the screams of Huda [a Palestinian girl who lost her family in an explosion on a Gaza beach on 9 June]. What happened to her is in our shared memory.

The best outcome is that they release our prisoners, the innocents and then we release the Israeli soldier.