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The Israeli army has 'disciplined' two high-ranking officers for approving the use of white phosphorous shells during the Gaza war last year, according to local media.
The Haaretz newspaper's website said on Monday that a military inquiry concluded that the Gaza division commander and a brigade commander endangered human life by firing the highly incendiary weapon towards a compound run by a UN aid agency.
The military spokesman's office had no immediate comment on Monday, saying it would issue a statement shortly.
Haaretz said that the officers, Eyal Eisenberg and Ilan Malka, were the subject of disciplinary action, but did not specify any punishment.
It said the allegations were included in the government's dossier submitted to the UN on Friday in response to the UN-sponsored Goldstone report's harsh criticism of Israeli military conduct.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) said it had also submitted a response to the UN, along with preliminary findings.
The reports come as a deadline looms for Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, to address the General Assembly with his own report on Gaza in next Friday.
Phosphorus munitions
Many human rights organizations had accused the Israeli army of illegally using phosphorous munitions, which caused severe burned injuries among the Palestinian population.
However, the Israeli army justified its actions by saying that similar shells are in use by other Western armies and insisting that the munitions were used in remote locations in the Gaza Strip, which has a high population density and limited land access.
Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reporting from Jerusalem, said: "We must stress that the Israeli army is investigating itself. This is not in anyway an independent inquiry.
"When you bear in mind that a number of human rights groups identified what they described as a systematic, random and wide-ranging use of the chemical, the Israeli report just focuses on this one incident and two individuals being disciplined. But we've seen pictures from Gaza that hundreds of people were burned by white phosphorous during that military campaign a year ago. It seems that just this one isolated incident is being focused on in the Israeli investigation."
With the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, Gabi Ashkenazi, the Israeli army chief, ordered the convening of five special investigative committees.
One of the committees examined the use of phosphorus shells.
The members noted in their findings that the two army officers, in approving the firing of phosphorus shells, were guilty of "exceeding their authority in a manner that jeopardized the lives of others".
Gideon Levy, a Haaretz political analyst, told Al Jazeera: "This is the first time that Israel has admitted it did something wrong. This by itself is a progressive step.
"Without international pressure, the [Israeli army] would have not carried out investigations, but I guess the world will not be satisfied with this very minor step."
War crimes committed
The Goldstone report, requested by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, was put together by an expert panel headed by Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist.
Based on its findings in Gaza, the committee accused Israel of committing war crimes during the Gaza war which lasted from December 27, 2008, to January 18, 2009.
Initially, Israel refused to cooperate with Goldstone and angrily rejected his findings.
But after the General Assembly urged in November both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate Goldstone's charges, Israel decided it would provide Ban with information on the military offensive it called Operation Cast Lead.
Yigal Palmor, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said the response, entitled Gaza Operation Investigations: An Update, defends Israel's investigations of its offensive, but does not address the international body's main demand - the creation of an independent commission of inquiry.
"Our response includes a description of the Israeli legal system, the fact that it is responsible and independent and acts in accordance with international law, how it operates and why it can be trusted," he said.
Onus on Netanyahu
The decision to establish a commission of inquiry must be made by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Palmor said.
Israel's government has long rejected such a move, but there have been increasing calls inside Israel for an independent inquiry, even if just to prove that the allegations made in the Goldstone report are 'false'.
Menachem Mazuz, Israel's outgoing attorney-general, said in a farewell interview on Friday that Israel must establish such a commission. If it does not, he said, the Goldstone allegations "will pursue us and continue to pursue us and undermine our legitimacy".
Israel's report to the UN says that the convening of a sixth committee has been set up to examine additional allegations made against the Israeli army.
So far, Israel's military says, it has investigated about 150 incidents that took place during the war. At least 29 investigations are ongoing, the military said, and one soldier has been convicted of 'misconduct'.
PHOTO CAPTION
Palestinian civilians and medics run to safety during an Israeli strike over a UN school in Beit Lahia, 2009.
Al-Jazeera
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