Israel set to respond to UN demand on Gaza war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the finishing touches to a 40-page letter to be delivered to Ban's office Friday evening, a government official said, asking not to be named.

Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said earlier in the week that Israel rejected the demand for a "verification commission."

But Israeli media have said the government may agree to a limited probe to deflect some of the criticism over the three-week offensive that killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis just over a year ago.

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 on Friday.

The UN General Assembly called on Israel and Hamas in November to conduct independent investigations and endorsed the Goldstone report, a UN probe into the war that accused both sides of war crimes.

Both Israel and Hamas have rejected claims their forces may have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity.