Israel is moving closer to setting up its own inquiry into the recent Gaza war, in a move designed to ease international pressure without acceding to demands for a full-blown independent committee of investigation.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has been struggling for weeks to quell a mounting international backlash against the January offensive and fend off accusations of Israeli war crimes.

Israeli officials have long rejected such charges, insisting the three-week assault on Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, was justified and proportionate. Yet the recent publication of a United Nations report claiming both sides committed war crimes - and urging independent investigations - appears all but certain to force Israel to take action.

The UN probe, led by the South African jurist Richard Goldstone, was earlier this month endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council and is expected to be debated at the UN General Assembly.

Israeli officials and analysts say that ignoring calls for investigation may lead to a further deterioration in the country's international standing and could put Israeli officials and soldiers at a greater risk of prosecution abroad.

"A decision has not yet been taken. But it is clear that we have to respond," an Israeli official said yesterday. Mr Netanyahu, he added, had asked several ministers for suggestions, but had insisted that nothing should be done to undermine Israel's system of military justice, which is investigating some of the charges made by Mr Goldstone. The prime minister would also not allow individual soldiers to be "interrogated" by a non-military committee.

Israeli media reports suggested the government was likely to set up a review panel into the Gaza war but leave individual inquiries in the hands of the military - a move that may fall short of international demands for an independent committee to examine specific allegations of war crimes.

The increasingly ferocious debate over Israel's response to the Goldstone report highlights a much broader dilemma for the country. On the one hand, the government is certain to infuriate the army and wide sections of the public if it is seen to punish troops for a war that was fought with huge popular support.

At the same time, the Israeli government is acutely aware of the country's increasingly poor standing internationally - the result of the Gaza war and the election of a hawkish, rightwing government that is widely perceived to be less compromising on diplomatic issues than its predecessor.

While Israel can ultimately count on its US ally to fight its corner in the UN Security Council, there is recognition that countries such as France and the UK would find it easier to back Israel if it promised a serious investigation into Mr Goldstone's allegations.

That is why several senior ministers have called on Mr Netanyahu to back the creation of an independent committee to examine the war crimes charges.

In an interview with the Israeli press last week, Dan Meridor, the deputy prime minister and a senior member of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party, said: "Today, with the development of international law, one of the best means of defence is for a state to investigate itself." *Israel is denying Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip their fair share of the region's scarce water supplies, according to a report published today by Amnesty International.

The human rights group says that Palestinians consume an average of 70 litres of water a day - for drinking, washing, agriculture and all other uses. That is less than the 100 litres recommended by the World Health Organisation, and substantially below the Israeli average of 300 litres.

As many as 200,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have no access to running water. In the Gaza Strip, the availability and quality of water supplies have reached "crisis point", the report says.

The Israeli government strongly denied Amnesty's accusations. It said Israel was providing more water to the Palestinians than it was obliged to under the 1994 Oslo accords.

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