Today’s Zaman reports: Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has called for a unity agreement between Palestinian factions, saying peace is mandatory for Palestinians who are united in fighting Israeli occupation.

Mashaal, speaking on Sunday after talks with Turkish leaders, dismissed rivalry between Palestinian groups as a “conspiracy” targeting the Palestinians. “We want to open a new page, and we think that we have created a domestic peace atmosphere. Peace is obligatory, and Palestinians should be unified. The Palestine issue is our cause, and our stance on occupation is the same,” Mashaal said in regards to talks between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah.

“I would like to send a message to all Palestinian people living in and out of Palestine: Let’s exert efforts seriously and sincerely to make an internal compromise agreement. … We should sacrifice our personal and political views for the sake of the Palestine cause,” Mashaal said in an interview with Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news agency.