RABAT, November 5. /TASS/. Israel has been widely using prohibited white phosphorus to shell the Gaza Strip over the past two days, the Qatari-based Al Jazeera television channel reported on Sunday, citing the Palestinian interior ministry.

"In the past two days, the invader (Israel - TASS) has intensified the use of bombs with white phosphorus, which are prohibited by international law," a ministry spokesman said, adding that the Israeli army "is deliberately targeting refugee shelters and hospitals in Gaza and is killing civilians when they are moving to safer areas."

The spokesman also said that mass media in the Gaza Strip cannot do their job because of attacks on journalists and problems with movement around the enclave.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory, killing many Israelis living in the settlements near the border and abducting more than 200 people, including children, women and the elderly. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.