East Jerusalem-based 45-year-old Palestinian freelance journalist Mirvat al-Azzeh was arrested by Israeli authorities on Thursday last week (October 16) on suspicion of inciting terror and identifying with a terrorist organization.
According to the Jerusalem Post, al-Azzeh shared four recent Facebook posts regarding Hamas's October 7 attack, which killed over 1,200 people.
While it was unclear whether the posts were written by al-Azzeh, the hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate Court described them as "inciting and glorying the horrible acts committed against civilians."
NBC has since cut ties with the journalist.
"Before we recently retained Marwat Azza for services as a freelance producer, we were not aware of her personal social media activity that provided the basis for the Israeli investigation," an NBC spokesperson told the New York Post, using an alternate spelling of her name.
Meanwhile, an insider close to the network said that NBC News hired Azzeh as a freelance producer on October 21.
"A review of her limited work for NBC News did not uncover any issues," the insider added.
Al-Azzeh Arrested
The Jerusalem Post additionally cited Israeli authorities when they said al-Azzed "arrived ready for arrest" without her cell phone but with phone numbers written on her leg.
She was cooperative with Israeli Police, who first requested permission from the prosecutor's office to interrogate the journalist last month, with the permission granted last week after al-Azzeh admitted to the offenses.
"The woman in question is an ordinary woman, who works as a journalist and whose work is important to us all," al-Azzeh's legal counsel said.
"She was asked during her investigation about her employment. I believe she admitted to all the deeds described to her and cooperated fully with the investigation. She did not attempt to conceal the offenses or claim that her accounts had been hacked. Even when she didn't have a mobile phone, which is the main tool involved, she still said, 'Yes, those are my posts.'"
There was no clear length of jail time al-Azzeh would receive.
Pro-Hamas Journalists
Al-Azzeh was the latest in a list of journalists who have praised or tolerated the terrorist attack on October 7.
The New York Times recently rehired Soliman Hijjy, a Hitler-praising filmmaker who was covering the Israel-Hamas War.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Western media - including Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN, and the New York Times - for working with photojournalists who were allegedly embedded with Hamas during the sabbath massacre in southern Israel.
As a result, CNN ended up severing ties with a freelancer who was photographed getting a kiss from a Hamas leader.
