The Israeli military called up reinforcements in anticipation of larger clashes on Friday as thousands of young men are expected to take to the streets in protest after traditional Friday prayers.

The UN Security Council will also gather to discuss the inflamed situation in the Middle East after Britain and seven other states requested an emergency meeting in response to Mr Trump’s announcement.

Aftershocks of the US decision were also felt far beyond the region. In Amsterdam, a man with a Palestinian flag attacked a Jewish kosher restaurant in Amsterdam and demonstrators protested in cities across Pakistan.

Around 50 Palestinians suffered minor injuries during clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem. Young men hurled stones and set tyres alight to block roads while Israeli troops fired teargas and rubber bullets in response.

In Bethlehem wafts of smoke rose among the Christmas decorations which already been hung in the streets leading to the Church of the Nativity, the site where Jesus Christ is said to have been born.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said two rockets were fired from Gaza on Thursday evening but both projectiles crashed to the ground within Gaza before reaching Israel. The rockets are believed to have been fired by a smaller Salafist group and not Hamas.