JENIN, West Bank, June 8 - A senior Palestinian militant is urging calm in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the next month so that everyone -- Palestinians and Israelis alike -- can enjoy the World Cup.

Zakariyah Zubaidi, a commander of the Aksa Martyrs' Brigade, said a few weeks of peace and security was what was needed from both sides so that everybody could enjoy the football.

"We are a nation that encourages sports and we, like other nations, like to watch and to follow the World Cup in peace and security," Zubaidi told Reuters in the town of Jenin.

"We undertake to be committed to calm so that our neighbours, the Israelis, can also feel at ease watching the World Cup in peace," he said, adding that he hoped Israel would suspend patrols in towns in the occupied West Bank.

The World Cup runs from June 9 to July 9. Palestinians will be able to watch it free on television but Israelis have to pay to get access to the full package from a satellite provider.

A cartoon in a local newspaper last week showed Palestinians welcoming Israelis as they jumped over the West Bank barrier that separates them to watch the football.