Court May Look Into Events In Gaza Enclave

She was the strongest among them, the natural leader. So when the shelling stopped and the Israeli soldiers announced through loudspeakers that all residents should come out of their homes and head for the center of town, neighbors in Khozaa turned to Rawhiya Najar for guidance.

She led a procession of 20 women and children into the streets holding a white flag in each hand, residents say. The group had made it perhaps 200 yards when a soldier stepped out from a door down the street and shot Najar in the head, multiple witnesses say.

As the International Criminal Court weighs a war-crimes investigation into the Gaza offensive, the events in Khozaa could be a key part in the evidence. It was here that Israeli troops staged a series of incursions from Jan. 10 to 13, facing off against local militant fighters and leaving a trail of accusations and recriminations in their wake.

These include charges of indiscriminate firing on civilians and ambulances, and what one international weapons expert called the heaviest use of controversial white phosphorus munitions in the 22-day offensive.

Local officials say 19 people were killed during the assault, 16 of them civilians. About 150 people were injured, most from prolonged exposure to phosphorus smoke, local medical officials say.

It is impossible to fully confirm many of the details of what happened here. But interviews with more than a dozen Khozaa residents, medical professionals, government officials and local militant fighters depict a chaotic three-day span when phosphorus smoke filled the streets and homes as families cowered indoors.

The Israeli army, which staged its offensive after years of rocket attacks against southern Israel emanating from the Gaza Strip, refuses to discuss individual charges in detail. A statement in response to questions about the events in Khozaa declared that the military is "conducting post-operation investigations."

Israeli officials have insisted that their soldiers tried to avoid civilian casualties, and accuse Hamas fighters of cynically using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

Residents acknowledge an active militant presence in the district, and local militant commanders say about a dozen fighters directly engaged Israeli forces here. But militants and residents deny that the area was a frequent spot for rocket launches into Israel, saying those cells prefer to operate from farther north in Gaza.