Gunman killed in clash with Gaza police

A local gunman was shot dead in Gaza City on Tuesday during a confrontation with Hamas police and security officials who went to arrest him, the interior ministry said. 

The incident occurred in the northern Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood with the interior ministry identifying the gunman as 27-year-old Yussef al-Hatar, a local leader of an armed group. 

According to ministry spokesman Iyad Buzum, the security forces had gone to his home in the morning to arrest him for unspecified "illegal activities."

But Hatar tried to flee, firing on the forces as he went. He tried to blow himself up with a suicide vest but was shot dead before it detonated, Buzum told AFP.

He had also "tried to booby-trap his house," the spokesman said.

"Security forces barricaded the house and then intense clashes erupted," witnesses told AFP, some of whom identified Hatar as being a member of a group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS). 

Inside the building, security forces found a number of weapons including "explosive belts, explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades," Buzum said. 

Pictures of the weapons were posted on the ministry's Facebook page. 

Hamas, the de facto power in Gaza, has in recent months been waging a harsh crackdown on "extremist" groups operating in the enclave following a series of unclaimed bomb attacks.

There has been a growing number of small-scale explosions in the territory, but they have rarely been claimed. 

They have hit public buildings and private homes and cars, but have also targeted officials of both Hamas and the rival Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas. 

Gaza a 'powder keg', Germany's top diplomat warns

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeie described the impoverished Gaza Strip as a "powder keg" at risk of exploding, during a visit to the war-torn territory on Monday.

The German minister, who arrived in the region on Saturday and held talks with top Israeli and Palestinian officials, called for efforts to rebuild the shattered enclave which was ravaged by a 50-day Israeli offensive last summer, the third in six years.

"I came out of all my discussions yesterday in Jerusalem and in Ramallah with the hope that all parties are mindful that here we are sitting on a powder keg here and that we must ensure that the fuse does not catch light," Steinmeier said.

"We shall only be able to decisively reduce the risks of a fresh escalation if we allow economic development in the Gaza Strip in addition to humanitarian aid and reconstruction," he said on a visit to Gaza City's fishing port.

That would only be possible "with open borders" -- a reference to the tough restrictions on the movement of goods and people that have been imposed by Israel and Egypt.

"But none of this will succeed until it is certain that there will be no further rocket attacks from here, when it is no longer a launch pad," he said.

During his visit, Steinmeier toured a German-funded girls' school in the beachfront Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. 

But he did not meet any officials from Hamas.

Last year's deadly offensive claimed the lives of more than 2,200 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.

A World Bank report published in May said Gaza's unemployment rate of 44 percent was "probably the highest in the world" which, coupled with its soaring poverty levels, was "very troubling". 

Israel accuses UN of recognising Hamas-linked NGO

Meanwhile, Israel on Tuesday denounced as "outrageous" a UN decision to recognise a London-based Palestinian non-governmental organisation it says is affiliated with Hamas.

In a decision late on Monday, the UN committee on non-governmental organisations voted in favour of recognising the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) as a permanent NGO with access to the world body's many forums.

The vote passed by 12 votes to three, with three abstentions.

The move was roundly denounced by Israel which outlawed the group in 2010, accusing it of being involved in "terror-affiliated activities" and serving as "the organisational and coordinating wing of Hamas in Europe".

But the PRC flatly denied it was affiliated with any Palestinian party including Hamas, calling Israel's claims "false and unfounded".

"The decision to add an organisation that belongs to Hamas to the list of UN organisations is outrageous," said Israel's newly appointed deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely in a statement.

"Admitting an organisation that identifies with Hamas to the list of UN organisations is handing a prize to terror and its operations -- there is no other way to interpret this decision."

On its website, the PRC describes itself as an independent consultancy which offers expert advice on the question of Palestinian refugees and their right to return to homes they fled or were forced out of during the 1948 war which accompanied Israel's creation.

The group said it would send a letter of protest to the UN over "the false allegations circulated by Israel... (which) blatantly accused PRC of adopting terrorism and violence as a tool".

The United States, Uruguay and Israel voted against recognising the PRC as a permanent NGO, while Turkey, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Venezuela were among the nations that supported its application.