An irate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told his security forces not to prevent protests or confrontations with Israeli troops on a "Day of Rage" set for Wednesday in the West Bank in response to Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan, senior Palestinian sources told Ynet on Tuesday.
The same sources estimated the demonstrations would be large and widespread.
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"The president is furious," the source said. "If we have elections, what do we tell our people about the Jordan Valley being annexed?"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex the stretch of the West Bank bordering Jordan, a move later conditionally endorsed by his main political rival, Blue & White leader Benny Gantz.
The sources said that although the announcement of the peace plan is the excuse, the Palestinian leadership is more concerned with the possible Israeli annexation of land now that Jerusalem appears to have the backing of the United States to do so.
"The plan will come and go like other American plans," the sources said. "We know it and the countries around us know it too."
Annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank seem like a realistic possibility under the Trump administration now and would change the nature of relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
"It will lead to a crisis and force the PA to cancel all existing agreements with the Israelis whether we like it or not," the sources said.
Regarding the "Day of Rage", the sources confirmed protesters will be able to clash with Israeli forces.
"Security troops will only prevent the use of live fire against Israelis," they said, but insisted that, "We will not allow things to get out of control in a manner that will pose any risk to Ramallah's authority."
As far as they were aware, the sources said, there was no change so far in the security cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli forces.
During a closed-door meeting with Fatah leadership on Monday, Abbas called for an "escalation on all fronts" in popular resistance in an attempt to stop Trump's peace proposal, the self-styled "Deal of the Century."
"We need to escalate popular resistance on all fronts and recruit the young, not abandon the streets," said Abbas. "We will stand united in the coming days and examine the position of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In the coming days, we will be in a state of emergency and we will invite everyone to join us, we need them all."
Abbas also announced during the meeting that he had informed Egypt that the Palestinian Authority would allow its citizens to express their objection to the U.S. plan.
Palestinian sources say that Abbas has refused to speak to Trump over the phone.
According to the sources, the Palestinian president later informed senior Fatah officials that he was warned by the White House he would pay a heavy price for refusing the call.
On Monday, Fatah released a statement regarding their position on the U.S. peace plan.
"We do not have to wait for any theatrical declaration of the U.S. government's position - the main partner in the occupation," the statement said.
"The American government is a key partner in the occupation of our lands and expanding the settlements."