Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell are prior to their meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday. (David Silverman/Associated Press)

Israel will not appoint an independent inquiry into its conduct in the Gaza conflict, defying a United Nations finding that it should do so, officials said Wednesday in Jerusalem.

A UN team, headed by veteran war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, concluded Tuesday that both Israel and Gaza's Islamic Hamas "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possible crimes against humanity" during the Dec. 27-Jan. 18 conflict.

The report also urged both sides to launch their own probes into the conflict within three months, and to follow that up with court action. If either side refused, the report said the UN should refer the evidence for prosecution to the International Criminal Court within six months.

But foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel would try to block the case from being referred to the court by diplomatic means.

Israel launched the offensive last December to quash Palestinian militants in Gaza who had bombarded southern Israel for years with rocket and mortar fire.

While harshly critical of Israel, the report also faulted Hamas for firing rockets into southern Israel without distinguishing between military targets and the civilian population.

Hamas officials welcomed its harsh condemnation of Israel and brushed off criticism of the Palestinian militants. About 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, including civilians on both sides, were killed in the conflict.

Meanwhile, George Mitchell, Washington's special envoy to the Mideast wrapped up his second meeting Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without reaching an agreement on curtailing Israeli settlement construction.

Mitchell and Netanyahu have scheduled a third meeting on Friday.

Netanyahu has offered a temporary moratorium on construction in the West Bank, but it would not apply to about 3,000 apartments that already have been approved, nor would it halt building in east Jerusalem.

With files from The Associated Press