Palestinian protesters burned pictures of President Trump as Israel braced for violence Wednesday ahead of the US president’s expected announcement that he recognizes Jerusalem as the country’s capital, according to reports.

The protest, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, came hours after the US State Department alerted outposts around the world to ramp up security amid concerns that Trump’s decision may spark backlash against diplomatic staff.

While Israel welcomed Trump’s expected announcement, Palestinian officials declared the Mideast peace process “finished” and Turkey said it would host a meeting of Islamic nations to give Muslim countries’ leaders a chance to coordinate a response.

The picture-burning protest came hours after Trump told Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials that he also plans to eventually move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israeli security services were preparing for the possibility of violence in the West Bank after Palestinian terrorist groups called for demonstrations in response to Trump’s expected announcement, according to the Times of Israel.

Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz warned that “violent protests would be a big mistake for the PA.”

“I suggest they don’t create security tensions and don’t lead down this road. We are ready for every possibility,” he said, according to the Ynet news website.

There were no immediate reports of large call-ups of military reservists or significant reinforcements to units in the West Bank.

Hamas called for Palestinians to “make Friday a day of rage against the occupation, rejecting moving the American embassy to Jerusalem and declaring it the capital of the Zionist entity.”

The militant Islamist group’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, warned that Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel’s capital would be a “dangerous escalation” that crosses “every red line.”

Political factions led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement also called for protest marches starting Wednesday, the Times of Israel reported.

Fatah’s youth wing said “all options [are] open for defending Jerusalem.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel’s “historical and national identity is receiving important expressions every day, but especially today.”

In his first public comments since the White House confirmed Trump will make the announcement, Netanyahu avoided any mention of the decision, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Instead, he focused his remarks on the Iranian threat to the region.

In a speech at a conference held by the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu warned against the threat Iran poses, saying the country seeks to “conquer the Middle East.”

Israeli ministers were instructed, per the White House’s request, to keep mum on Trump’s expected announcement until he makes a final decision on whether to sign the waiver that would determine the future of the embassy for the next six months.

But Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who also spoke at the conference, called on other nations to follow the president’s lead and also recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

“The sooner the Arab world recognizes Jerusalem as our capital, the sooner we will reach real peace. Real peace that is not predicated on an illusion that we are going to carve up Jerusalem and carve up Israel,” said Bennett, head of the nationalist Jewish Home party.

The Palestinians, who seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state, fear that Trump’s declaration imposes on them a disastrous solution for one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“There is no way that there can be talks with the Americans. The peace process is finished. They have already pre-empted the outcome,” Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said. “They cannot take us for granted.”

The US decision “destroys the peace process,” Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said.

International leaders also assailed Trump’s plan.

Pope Francis said he was “profoundly concerned” and urged that “everyone respects the status quo of the city.”

China, which has good ties with Israel and the Palestinians, expressed concerns over “possible aggravation of regional tensions.”

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, who had already expressed concern about Trump’s decision, said it was now time for the Americans to present their peace plan for the region.

Trump’s Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, have spent months meeting with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders — but details of their long-awaited plan remain a mystery.

“Clearly this is a decision that makes it more important than ever that the long-awaited American proposals on the Middle East peace process are now brought forward,” Johnson told reporters in Brussels.

With Post wires