By Jonathon Burch and Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey on Monday criticised U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for asking Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to delay his planned visit to the Palestinian Gaza Strip, in a blunt put-down that underlined often prickly ties between the NATO allies. Erdogan, who has for years spoken of his desire to visit the Palestinian enclave, said last week he planned to go in late May after an official visit to the United States earlier in the same month.

The Hamas rulers of Gaza on Sunday slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry for urging the Turkish prime minister to delay a visit to the Palestinian territory. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Kerry and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas -- who met in Istanbul earlier in the day -- of "collusion in a bid to maintain the (Israeli) blockade on Gaza."

Militants fired two rockets from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula at the southern resort city of Eilat on Wednesday, Israel said, in an attack claimed by Jihadists to coincide with Palestinian Prisoners' Day. It was the first rocket attack on the Red Sea resort in eight months, striking inside the city but causing no casualties, police said. The army said the rockets were fired from the Sinai, but there was no confirmation from Cairo, where a senior military official said troops were still investigating the incident.

The United Nations expressed "serious concern" over the impact of recent Israeli restrictions on the civilian population in Gaza, warning of possible serious effects if the sanctions continue, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday. "In response to a deteriorating security situation in and around Gaza, in recent weeks Israel has announced a series of heightened restrictions on the movement of people and goods to and from the Gaza Strip, including closures of the Kerem Shalom crossing," said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey at a daily news briefing. Israel announced on Monday t