“I believe Israel has nothing to fear from a commission of verification ... Israel is strong enough not to be afraid of such a verification,” Beinish said in a speech in Jerusalem.

“I believe it will turn out that many things have been exaggerated, but to be certain we must verify.”

About 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the 22-day onslaught launched by Israel on December 27, 2008, aimed at halting rocket attacks from the Islamist Hamas-ruled enclave. Thirteen Israelis were killed in the fighting.

The UN General Assembly in November called on Israel and Palestinian armed groups to investigate alleged war crimes detailed in the UN report by the respected former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

In an official response which was handed to UN chief Ban Ki-moon last Friday, Israel said a brigadier general and a colonel had been disciplined after an internal army inquiry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to decide on whether to name an inquiry committee over the war, to which Defence Minister Ehud Barak is strongly opposed.