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Israeli soldiers sitting on a hill on the border, as smoke billows from the Gaza Strip following the devastating Israeli offensive in 2009
Israel's 46-page report said its army had examined 150 reports of wrongdoing during last year's war, of which 36 had been referred to criminal investigation.
While admitting several fatal errors in judgment, the report denied any violations of international law during the war in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
"The complexity and scale of such operations means that inevitably there are tragic instances, mistakes, and errors of judgment. Tragic results, including civilian death and damage to property do not necessarily mean that violations of international law have occurred," it said.
The 36 cases under criminal investigation included 34 incidents addressed by a fact-finding mission by the UN Human Rights Council headed by South African international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, the report said.
"I think this report again proves the fact that the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is the most responsible and serious army and operates in the most moral way," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement earlier on Friday.
He called the Goldstone report -- which accused both Israel and Palestinian armed groups of war crimes during the three weeks of fighting -- "distorted, biased and unbalanced."
Hamas has also denied accusations of war crimes.
At the United Nations, Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian Authority "met the deadline in submitting what is required of it," referring to a call by the UN General Assembly last November for Israel and Hamas to conduct independent probes of the allegations by February 5.
The Israeli report did not list all of the investigations it had carried out, but provided several detailed examples of its probes into some incidents.
In one instance, the report said after investigating allegations that the army had used munitions containing white phosphorous -- banned by international war conventions -- that the army found its use was "consistent with Israel’s obligations under international law."
The report also summarised the Israeli army's internal judicial and investigative systems, comparing it to those of a number of Western armies, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
The report made no reference to whether the Israeli government would agree to form an independent inquiry committee.
Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said earlier in the week that Israel rejected the demand for a "verification commission" to probe the devastating offensive launched on December 27, 2008 in response to Palestinian rocket fire.
But Israeli media have said the government may agree to a limited probe to deflect some international criticism.
In such a case the investigators would examine decisions and orders given by government officials and military top brass and would interview only senior officials, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said.
Leading Israeli human rights groups have urged Israel "to establish, without delay, an independent and impartial investigation."
The Hamas rulers of Gaza insisted this week their investigations showed that Palestinian fighters in the coastal strip did not target Israeli civilians during the war -- a stand rejected by Human Rights Watch.
"Hamas’s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts," the New York-based group said.
The 575-page Goldstone report recommended that its conclusions be referred to the International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out credible investigations.
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While admitting several fatal errors in judgment, the report denied any violations of international law during the war in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
"The complexity and scale of such operations means that inevitably there are tragic instances, mistakes, and errors of judgment. Tragic results, including civilian death and damage to property do not necessarily mean that violations of international law have occurred," it said.
The 36 cases under criminal investigation included 34 incidents addressed by a fact-finding mission by the UN Human Rights Council headed by South African international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, the report said.
"I think this report again proves the fact that the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is the most responsible and serious army and operates in the most moral way," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement earlier on Friday.
He called the Goldstone report -- which accused both Israel and Palestinian armed groups of war crimes during the three weeks of fighting -- "distorted, biased and unbalanced."
Hamas has also denied accusations of war crimes.
At the United Nations, Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian Authority "met the deadline in submitting what is required of it," referring to a call by the UN General Assembly last November for Israel and Hamas to conduct independent probes of the allegations by February 5.
The Israeli report did not list all of the investigations it had carried out, but provided several detailed examples of its probes into some incidents.
In one instance, the report said after investigating allegations that the army had used munitions containing white phosphorous -- banned by international war conventions -- that the army found its use was "consistent with Israel’s obligations under international law."
The report also summarised the Israeli army's internal judicial and investigative systems, comparing it to those of a number of Western armies, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
The report made no reference to whether the Israeli government would agree to form an independent inquiry committee.
Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said earlier in the week that Israel rejected the demand for a "verification commission" to probe the devastating offensive launched on December 27, 2008 in response to Palestinian rocket fire.
But Israeli media have said the government may agree to a limited probe to deflect some international criticism.
In such a case the investigators would examine decisions and orders given by government officials and military top brass and would interview only senior officials, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said.
Leading Israeli human rights groups have urged Israel "to establish, without delay, an independent and impartial investigation."
The Hamas rulers of Gaza insisted this week their investigations showed that Palestinian fighters in the coastal strip did not target Israeli civilians during the war -- a stand rejected by Human Rights Watch.
"Hamas’s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts," the New York-based group said.
The 575-page Goldstone report recommended that its conclusions be referred to the International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out credible investigations.
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