Israeli soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a shield during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UN human rights experts said.

The Israeli Defence force ordered the boy to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in the Gaza neighbourhood of Tel al-Hawa and enter buildings before them, said the UN secretary-general’s envoy for protecting children in armed conflict.

The boy also was told to open the bags of Palestinians - presumably to protect the soldiers from possible explosives - before being released at the entrance to a hospital, Radhika Coomaraswamy said.

She said the incident on January 15, after Israeli tanks had rolled into the area and during “intense operations,” was a violation of Israeli and international law.

It was included in a 43-page report published today, and was just one of many verified human rights atrocities during the three-week war between Israel and Hamas that ended January 18, she said.

Ms Coomaraswamy accused Israeli soldiers of shooting Palestinian children, bulldozing a home with a woman and child still inside, and shelling a building they had ordered civilians into a day earlier.

”Violations were reported on a daily basis, too numerous to list,” said Ms Coomaraswamy, who visited Gaza and Israel for five days in February.