A cell of the radical Palestinian Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant has threatened to fire rockets from the West Bank against Israeli targets.

At a news conference in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a group of 20 masked militants of the Jondallah (God's soldiers) cell brandished four homemade rockets which they threatened to fire against the Jewish state.

One of the projectiles, 1.5 metres (five feet) in length, "has a range of five kilometres (two miles) and a three kilogram payload," the group claimed.

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"We have a certain number of these rockets and we are going to use them when the time is right," said one of the armed militants.

He nevertheless said that the group, linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades which is connected to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement, intends to observe a ceasefire agreement reached with Israel.

The ceasefire at present covers only the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired thousands of makeshift rockets against southern Israel in recent years, killing 10 civilians. There have also been several attempts to fire projectiles in the West Bank.