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RUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Four Palestinian youths from Jerusalem were assaulted Thursday by Israeli forces at the entrance to the city of Eilat in southern Israel, one of the youths told Ma'an Saturday.

Muhammad al-Daqqaq said he was with three of his friends, identified as Noor al-Shalabi, Anas Mazid, and Abed al-Karim al-Natsheh, on their way to Eilat Thursday evening when they were stopped by Israeli soldiers near a checkpoint at the entrance to the city.

Israeli forces checked their IDs, ordered them out of their vehicle, and brought them to an interrogation room where they were searched, verbally insulted, and beaten.

Al-Daqqaq said Israeli forces questioned them on their reasons for visiting the city, and an officer said, “you throw rocks at our forces in Jerusalem -- why are you coming here?”

The youths were held and searched individually while their vehicle underwent inspection.

He added that al-Shalabi was taken a second time into the room and assaulted, causing him to faint and lose consciousness. An ambulance later took him to a hospital inside Eilat.

Mistreatment by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is regular, has long received criticism from the international community.