Who Is Mirvat al-Azzeh? Journalist Arrested For 'Glorifying' Hamas Attack

A 45-year-old freelancer news producer, Mirvat al-Azzeh, a Palestinian journalist, was arrested by Israeli authorities on Thursday, alleging Azzeh was glorifying Hamas attacks through her Facebook posts, and booked under suspicion for identifying with a terrorist organization and inciting terrorism. 

Azzeh from being a freelance news producer, started working as a freelance journalist with news outlet NBC News after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. However, after Azzeh's arrest, the news outlet issued a statement announcing they had severed ties with the Palestinian journalist. 

Palestinian Journalist Mirvat Al-Azzeh Arrested:

On Thursday, a Palestinian freelance journalist was arrested by Israeli authorities for her four Facebook posts that allegedly glorified Hamas attacks and has been booked under the suspicion of supporting terrorism in any way. 

The 45-year-old freelancer Mirvat al-Azeeh posted a post on Facebook on October 7 that read about an elderly woman kidnapped by Hamas militants. She wrote on Facebook, "It's killing me; it's a black comedy, the old woman looks happy, a bit of action before she dies."

In another post, she wrote about the Hamas bombings: ''Sirens all the time, the Jews are hiding, and the Arabs are out drinking coffee on their balconies." She also said she felt like "watching a movie" with a Palestinian director and Protagonist from Gaza. 

On Friday, during a court hearing in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, a police personnel stated Azzeh has incited and glorified horrible acts committed by Hamas against civilians. 

However, Azzeh's defense attorney claimed that Azzeh has fully cooperated during the investigation and has taken full responsibility for her posts, owning up to it as she accepted "Yes, they are my posts" when she could have claimed her account to be hacked, especially after losing her phone, which is the main tool used in the case. 

NBC's Severed Terms With Journalist After Her Arrest:

In a statement, an NBC spokesperson addressed Azzeh, who started working with the news outlet after the October 7 attacks as a freelance journalist The investigation into Azzeh is totally unrelated to NBC and is based upon her personal social media posts. 

The spokesperson also added that her Facebook posts that landed her into arrest by Israeli authorities also predated her time with NBC, as he said the media outlet was unaware of her posts before they engaged with her four weeks ago. Announcing cutting ties with Azzeh, the NBC spokesperson said "She will not be contributing to our coverage going forward."

However, Azzeh has not been the first Palestinian arrested by Israeli forces for commenting on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, as earlier many celebrities, Israeli-Palestinian citizens, and even celebrities were arrested for allegedly supporting terrorism through social media posts. 

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