Lebanese woman reacts after looking at rubble of one of three destroyed houses hit by two Israeli air strikes Sunday in the village of Brital, Monday, August 14, 2006

A United Nations Human Rights Council investigation has criticized Israel's military for attacking civilians in Lebanon during the conflict with Hezbollah earlier this year.

In a report issued Tuesday, a team of rights experts said the civilian attacks were "flagrant violations" of human rights laws. They also said Israel's military engaged in a pattern of "excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force" in the month-long conflict.

The report also accused Hezbollah militants of using United Nations officials as human shields to launch attacks against Israeli forces in Lebanon. But the inquiry did not include a mandate to study Hezbollah actions in the conflict.

Also Tuesday, the rights group Amnesty International urged U.N. officials to do an independent probe into alleged violations during the conflict.