On August 19, 2025, Palestinian General Intelligence officers arrested freelance journalist Mazen Awad at home in the town of Awarta near Nablus in the West Bank, according to his family. Awad collaborates with Tehran-based Al-Kawthar TV and the Institute of Modern Media of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem. He was released on September 3, 2025, according to his brother.
His brother, Samer Awad, told CPJ that officers arrived shortly before 3 a.m., identified themselves and presented an arrest warrant, then searched the home. They took the journalist 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 Awad 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.”