JERUSALEM AND MADRID — Israeli leaders worked at home and abroad Wednesday to reinforce a fragile cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and respond to international criticism of civilian casualties inflicted by their 22-day offensive against Hamas militants who control the Palestinian enclave.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met in Brussels with European leaders about preventing arms smuggling into Gaza, while in Tel Aviv, military officials said they were investigating complaints that Israeli forces ignored international restrictions on the use of phosphorous weapons during their attacks in Gaza.
As Israel completed a rapid troop pullout Wednesday morning, the World Health Organization released a report estimating that 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the fighting, including 410 children and 104 women. About 5,300 Palestinians were injured, half of them women and children, the report said.
At least 13 Israelis died, three of them civilians and four of them military personnel killed by friendly fire.
In addition to allegations of indiscriminate violence, critics accuse Israel of violating international law restricting the use of phosphorus arms, which can inflict horrific burns. Phosphorus artillery shells and similar weapons are not illegal, but the law bars their use in densely populated areas such as Gaza City, one of the most crowded areas in the world.
An Israeli committee led by a colonel will investigate the allegations by human rights groups and the foreign press, officials said Wednesday. The Israel Defense Forces established the committee Friday, according to the statement released by the office of the IDF spokesperson.
"In response to the claims . . . relating to the use of phosphorus weapons, and in order to remove any ambiguity, an investigative team has been established in the Southern Command to look into the issue," the statement said. "It must be noted that international law does not prohibit the use of weaponry containing phosphorus to create smoke screens and for marking purposes. The IDF only uses weapons permitted by law."
In another repercussion of foreign condemnation of Israeli tactics, the military made an unprecedented decision Wednesday to conceal the identities of field commanders who had been interviewed by the Israeli press. Military censors decided shortly before the airing and publication of the interviews that names would be withheld and faces blurred in television reports, according to the Israeli press.
