Kamalmaz was running a nonprofit in Lebanon helping refugees deal with trauma when he drove to Syria in mid-February 2017 to visit a relative who had cancer.

[6][7] In early 2020, Kash Patel arrived in Damascus to negotiate the release of Kamalmaz and Austin Tice.

Kamalmaz's image is featured in a 15-foot mural in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad.

[5] On May 18, 2024, The New York Times reported that national security officials told his family that highly credible, classified information indicated that he had died in captivity.

[2] Miller & Chevalier and SETF (Syrian Emergency Task Force) Announced Civil Lawsuit Against Assad Regime seeking at least $70 million in punitive and compensatory damages for the unlawful detention, torture, and killing of Majd Kamalmaz.