GAZA (Reuters) - A mannequin discovered by Palestinians on a Gaza beach may have been used by Israeli forces as a decoy to draw fire from gunmen, an Israeli military expert said.

The head-and-torso figure, dressed in an army shirt and rigged with electric wires, was described by some Palestinians as a `robot` that had helped Israeli commandos storm ashore and kill 10 Hamas guerrillas during Israel`s 22-day Gaza offensive.

But Itay Gil, who trains various Israeli commando units, said the rubber dummy could have been used to dupe Palestinian snipers into opening fire so they could be identified and killed.

`These dolls do exist in the Israeli Defence Forces, for the purposes of shooting drills and to simulate enemy emplacements,` Gil said.

`It could be that this dummy was a decoy mounted on an Israeli boat or vehicle, to draw the first volley and deny the enemy the element of surprise,` he said. `Anything`s possible.`

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the tactics used during the offensive, which was launched on December 27 to counter Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes. Israeli halted operations in a truce on Sunday.

During the fighting, witnesses spoke of soldiers sneaking into the congested coastal territory disguised as Hamas gunmen, or rappelling onto Gazan rooftops from helicopters whose approach was masked by smokescreens from artillery barrages.

Israeli tanks dodged Palestinian landmines by traveling entirely off-road. Infantrymen invaded Gaza on foot, by night, to thwart any Hamas anti-tank crews hoping for a one-off shot at a troop transport.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi Writing by Dan Williams Editing by Mark Trevelyan)