RAMALLAH, April 13: Masked gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades on Thursday briefly occupied the Palestinian prime minister’s West Bank offices to demand benefits from the cash-strapped Hamas government.

Around two dozen militants forced their way into the downtown building in the middle of a video-conference linking senior civil servants based in the West Bank town with their counterparts in Gaza City, while storming the transport ministry at the same time, security sources and witnesses said.

Although Ramallah serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, new prime minister Ismail Haniya has had to operate out of Gaza as a result of travel restrictions imposed on the new Hamas-led administration.

The gunmen took over the offices for around an hour but were later persuaded to end their protest peacefully when a large number of reinforcements from the security services were sent to the scene.

One of the ringleaders said the protest was staged to demand the restoration of recently revoked benefits, including permits which enable the families of people killed in the ongoing Palestinian uprising to travel free by taxi.—AFP