Two Israeli soldiers have been convicted of using a Palestinian child as a human shield to protect them from a possible bomb during last year's war in the Gaza Strip.

The soldiers were court-martialled for ordering a nine-year-old Palestinian boy to check several bags found in an apartment building in Gaza City.

Palestinian militant groups admitted before the war they had placed booby traps around the Gaza Strip.

The boy emptied one bag, but after he failed to check another, the soldiers pulled him aside and shot at the bag, endangering the lives of all present, according to the court verdict.

They were found guilty of exceeding their authority to the point of endangering life, and conduct unbecoming, although the court acknowledged they had been under difficult combat conditions.

Their crime could attract a jail term.