THOUSANDS of Palestinians are set to protest in the occupied West Bank today as US President Joe Biden kicks off his visit to the Middle East. 

Mr Biden will meet Israeli leaders in occupied Jerusalem before heading to the West Bank to meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas tomorrow. 

He was greeted with billboards and digital screens in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, reading: “Mr President, this is apartheid” posted by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

Hamas warned that the US president’s regional trip was in the interests of Tel Aviv and would be damaging to the Palestinian cause. 

“The regional tour is aimed at driving more wedges among states, creating new alliances in support of the zionist regime and its expansionist policies, and liquidating the resistance movements of the Muslim world,” its spokesman Hazem Qassem said. 

Analysts have suggested that Mr Biden’s visit to the Israeli-occupied territories and Saudi Arabia will lead to an increase in the repression of Palestinians and activists in Persian Gulf countries.

Earlier this month Kuwaiti socialists accused Washington of seeking to secure support for the normalisation of relations with Israel and the advancement of US interests in the region. 

Protests demanding an end to the Israeli occupation will take place in Ramallah at 6pm local time.