The two main Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah should unite and fight Israel rather than each other, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Thursday.

The two ought to close ranks on "liberating Palestine, not recognizing Israel and adopting the path of Jihad and resistance," Mashaal said at the end of a two-day conference by Islamic scholars on the Palestinian question.

Mashaal made no reference to an 18-point agreement between Hamas and Fatah prisoners held by Israel that was announced Thursday.

Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the leader of Fatah, endorsed the agreement, but its acceptance would amount to a significant shift by Hamas. The accord calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and Hamas has long refused to recognize Israel.

Instead, Mashaal addressed the rank and file members of Hamas and Fatah in the Palestinian territories, where three people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in fighting this week.

"I urge you in the name of God to save your blood and direct the weapons to the chests of the enemy," Mashaal said. "We are brothers. We may disagree politically, but we are not enemies."

The conference delegates responded with applause.

The United States, the European Union and several other major donors have halted funding to the Palestinian Authority, but Mashaal urged Palestinians to be steadfast in the face of international pressure on the Hamas-led government.

A conference final statement called on Muslims "wherever they are, to support their brothers in Palestine by all means — money, words and souls." It urged Arab and Muslim banks to transfer funds to the Palestinians and "not to be a tool in the hands of the enemies of the nation."