UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday appealed for an end to Palestinian political divisions. Guterres was in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have been caught in a dispute over power-sharing for years.

Guterres is on his first visit to the region since taking office in January. Political divisions have deepened an energy crisis in the isolated enclave of two million people.

"Yesterday, I was in (the West Bank city of) Ramallah. Today, I am in Gaza," Guterres said. 

"They are both parts of the same Palestine. So, I appeal for the unity. The division only undermines the cause of the Palestinian people," he said in a speech at a UN-run school in the coastal territory.

"Being in Gaza, allow me to express my dream in a different way: the dream to be able to come back to Gaza one day and to see Gaza as part of a Palestinian state in peace, with prosperity and welfare for the people of this wonderful place," Guterres said.

He met Israeli and Palestinian leaders aiming to encourage the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that collapsed in 2014.

Hamas' demands

But he did not meet Hamas officials in Gaza, who issued a demand that Guterres work to lift the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Strip and save it from a humanitarian crisis. 

Hamas also demanded that Guterres approve relief and development programmes and pressure Israel about the Palestinian prisoners it holds.

Applying pressure on Hamas, Abbas in recent months has slashed PA funding for Israeli-supplied electricity to Gaza, leading to prolonged daily blackouts in the enclave that the group seized from his Fatah faction in fighting in 2007.

Call for Gaza siege ending

Guterres appealed for large-scale humanitarian aid to Gaza on Wednesday. The UN official ordered the immediate release of $4 million from the world body's emergency relief fund.

Citing security concerns, both Israel and Egypt maintain tight restrictions on the movement of people and goods through their respective Gaza frontiers.

In a statement, Hamas said it welcomed Guterres' visit and called on him to "make all possible efforts to lift the Gaza siege and end the suffering of two million Palestinians living in the world's largest open-air prison."

In his speech, Guterres said it was "important to open the closure" on the basis of a 2005 pact between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that includes detailed security arrangements for Gaza's border crossings.