Israeli army disperses protest in West Bank town

HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers used teargas on Saturday to disperse some 50 demonstrators protesting against Jewish settlement and Israeli closures in the West Bank, the Israeli army and Palestinian witnesses said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers dispersed the Palestinian and Israeli protesters in Hebron's Old City after they disturbed public order in an area under Israeli control.

Video footage from the scene showed Israeli soldiers pushing demonstrators, including Israeli Arab lawmaker Mohammad Barakeh.

Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators said the protest was part of several events aimed at marking Land Day, the annual commemoration of protests in 1976 against Israel's appropriation of Arab-owned land in Galilee.

Several Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli troops after soldiers fired teargas to disperse the crowd, Palestinian witnesses said. Three Palestinians were treated for gas inhalation, they added.

Some 650 Jewish settlers live in fortified enclaves guarded by Israeli troops in Hebron, a city of 180,000 Palestinians, and the city has long been a flashpoint.

(Reporting by Haitham Tamimi; Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Jonathan Wright)