Reuters news agency has said two of its cameramen were struck with rifle butts, forced to strip and attacked with teargas by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Yousri al-Jamal and Mamoun Wazwaz were allegedly stopped near a checkpoint where a Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Ziad Sulaima, had just been shot dead by an Israeli border guard. The two were forced out of their car by an Israeli military foot patrol, despite the car being clearly marked TV and both men wearing blue flak jackets with "Press" on the front, said the agency.

After striking them and forcing them to strip down to their underwear, the soldiers then fired teargas at them, it was claimed, which left Wazwaz requiring hospital treatment.

Stephen Adler, editor in chief of Reuters News, said: "We deplore the mistreatment of our journalists and have registered our extreme dismay with the Israeli military authorities."

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is looking into the allegations. "The regional brigade commander was ordered to open an investigation," Colonel Avital Leibovich told Reuters in an email.

The Foreign Press Association in Israel condemned the alleged assault, telling the BBC: "Press freedom is the signal of a civilised nation. The assault and humiliation of reporters trying to do their work is unacceptable and falls far, far below the standards that the IDF says it adheres to."

Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said: "The IDF claim that it is carrying out an investigation seems intended to buy time when what is needed is immediate action. The soldiers who engaged in this wanton act of abuse against two professional journalists must face legal consequences, and commanders must make clear that such actions are incompatible with IDF standards and will not be tolerated in future."

The cameramen told Reuters the soldiers accused them of working with an Israeli organisation that documents human rights violations.

The news agency reported that the soldiers did not let the men produce their official ID papers. After forcing them to strip, they were made to kneel in the road with their hands behind their heads.

Two other Palestinian journalists, working for local news organisation, were also stopped and forced to the ground, Reuters reported.

One of the soldiers then dropped a teargas canister between the men, and the IDF patrol ran away, it was claimed. Jamal and Wazwaz got to their vehicle, which had filled up with teargas, they said. They tried to drive away, but were forced out of the car by the choking gas. The soldiers then allegedly fired more teargas in their direction.

It was also claimed the soldiers took two gas masks and a video camera from the journalists' car, with the camera later found undamaged and abandoned further up the road.

Tensions have been high in Hebron in the past week following reported clashes between soldiers and youths throwing stones. Around 800 Jewish settlers live among 30,000 Palestinians in the parts of the old city that are under Israeli control.

Israeli police said the teenager killed on Thursday was shot dead after he allegedly attacked a border guard and threatened him with what turned out to be a toy pistol.