GAZA CITY: Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank on Friday in what they said was a protest against US recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Palestinian medical officials said 14 Palestinians were wounded by live ammunition in Friday’s clash.

“There is almost nothing left for the United States to do before it clearly declares a state of war against the Palestinian people, its authority and leadership,” wrote commentator Rajab Abu Serreya in the widely-circulated Palestinian newspaper Al Ayyam.

A few hundred Gazans approached the border fence with Israel, throwing stones at soldiers who tried to disperse them by firing canisters of tear gas, according to a video.

Smaller crowds gathered in a couple of West Bank cities where protesters threw stones and burned tyres.

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and threw stun grenades.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the reports.

“We want the Americans to know that the bloodshed here of unarmed people is on the hands of their president,” said Ali, a 20-year-old university student in Gaza who did not want to give his family name.

Losing significant funding from its largest donor, the United States, could be “catastrophic” for Palestinians, said a UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees.

“The human impact of losing significant funding could be catastrophic in the real lives of real people whom the UN is mandated to protect,” UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) spokesman Chris Gunness told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a statement.

“Palestine refugees are among some of the most vulnerable people in the Middle East. Our health services offer a life line, quite literally, to vulnerable women and children, the sick and the elderly,” he said.

Gunness said there was much at stake for the Palestinians.

“Even the most modest shock in a fragile society can have an inordinate impact and the consequences could be profound, widespread, dramatic and unpredictable,” he said.

US State Department spokesman Steve Goldstein told a briefing in Washington on Thursday that US funding for UNRWA was still under consideration and that no decision had yet been made.

Senior Palestinian leaders will meet in Ramallah on Sunday to debate responses to Trump’s decision.

Among the options to be considered is the potential suspension of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) recognition of Israel, delegates said.

The two-day meeting of the Palestinian Central Council will begin late Sunday, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expected to open with a brief address.

The 121-member council is a high-ranking arm of the PLO, the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people, and includes members of different parties.

Ahmed Majdalani, a senior PLO official, said that a committee created to formulate responses to Trump’s announcement would recommend redefining the Palestinian relationship with Israel.

Among the options, he said, was suspending recognition of Israel, accusing Israel of failing to abide by agreements.

“It is not possible for the Palestinian side to remain the only one committed to the agreements signed while the other side (Israel) is not committed to them and has violated them for years,” Majdalani said.

Majdalani said instead of US-mediated talks they would be looking for a conference led by the United Nations on the future of the peace process.

The agenda of Sunday’s talks includes a review of the situation since Oslo, as well as responses to Trump.

Palestinian Islamist movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are not members of the PCC, have been invited, delegates said, but it was unclear if they would attend.

Nour Odeh, a Palestinian political analyst, said the Palestinian leadership was seeking to change course.

But she said there were different camps among the leadership.

“One that sees that Trump has ushered in a completely different era and business as usual is no longer possible.

“The other camp is less convinced the world is ready to support us in a way that confronts this administration.

“The debate is about what can we do that won’t leave us alone with our backs against the wall.”

Agencies