RAMALLAH: 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 told AFP. 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.