On August 19, 2025, Palestinian General Intelligence officers arrested freelance journalist Mazen Awwad at home in the town of Awarta near Nablus in the West Bank, according to his family.
Awwad, 47, is a father of five who collaborates with Tehran-based Al-Kawthar TV and the Media Institute of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem.
His brother, Samer Awwad, told CPJ that officers arrived shortly before 3 a.m., identified themselves and presented an arrest warrant, then searched the home. They took Awwad to the intelligence detention center at the Muqata’a compound in Nablus.
“His lawyer visited him and told us he has been charged with receiving funds from abroad and possessing a weapon, even though no weapons were found at the house,” Samer Awwad said. “He doesn’t even post political content on social media. It appears the charges stem from malicious reports by some of his colleagues. He’s been referred to the prosecution twice, and both times, the prosecutor refused to release him on bail.”