Israel's military has been rocked after soldiers apparently admitted killing Palestinian civilians.

An investigation has been launched after admissions by a group of veterans of the recent Gaza conflict were published in an Israeli newspaper.

One squad leader said an army sharpshooter killed a Palestinian mother and her two children who turned the wrong way after troops ordered them out of their house.

The man added that most of the men under his command felt "the lives of Palestinians ... is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers, so as far as they are concerned, they can justify it that way".

Another squad leader told how a company commander ordered an elderly Palestinian woman to be shot as she walked on a road near from a house that troops had taken over.

The soldiers, alumni of a military academy, gathered last month to discuss their experiences in the 22-day Israeli offensive that ended in January, a campaign that Palestinians and human rights groups have said warranted war crimes probes.

Excerpts from the veterans' discussion appeared on Thursday on the front page of the Haaretz daily.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights has put the Palestinian death toll during the war at 1,434, including 960 civilians, 235 fighters and 239 police officers. Israeli officials have disputed the figures. Thirteen Israelis were killed.

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