*

Some protesters occupied company president's office on

Tuesday

*

Microsoft says the conduct was a serious breach of company

policies

*

Protests come after media investigation into use of Azure

software by Israel

(Recasts and writes through with additional firings)

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Microsoft has

fired four employees who participated in protests on company

premises against the firm's ties to Israel as it wages war in

Gaza, including two who took part in a sit-in this week at the

office of the company's president.

Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails informing

them that they were fired, the protest group No Azure for

Apartheid said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added on Thursday that two more workers, Nisreen Jaradat

and Julius Shan, were fired. They were among protesters who had

recently set up encampments at Microsoft headquarters.

Microsoft said the terminations followed serious breaches of

company policies. In its Thursday statement, it said recent

on-site demonstrations had "created significant safety

concerns."

No Azure for Apartheid, whose name references Microsoft's ( MSFT )

Azure software, has demanded that the company cut its ties to

Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians.

"We are here because Microsoft continues to provide Israel

with the tools it needs to commit genocide while gaslighting and

misdirecting its own workers about this reality," Hattle said in

a statement.

Hattle and Fameli were among seven protesters who were

arrested on Tuesday after occupying the office of company

President Brad Smith. The other five were former Microsoft

workers and people outside the company.

Smith has said Microsoft respected "freedom of expression

that everyone in this country enjoys as long as they do it

lawfully."

A joint media investigation published this month found that

an Israeli military surveillance agency was making use of

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Azure software to store countless recordings of

mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the

Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The investigation, conducted by the Guardian,

Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and

Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, said Israel relied on

Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians.

In response, Microsoft said it was turning to law firm

Covington & Burling LLP to conduct a review.

Other Microsoft workers have also protested the company's

ties to Israel.

In April, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's remarks were

interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protesting employee during the

technology company's 50th anniversary celebration over the

firm's ties with Israel. That employee and another protesting

employee were also subsequently fired.

Firms and educational institutions have faced protests over

ties with Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from

Israel's military assault has mounted, and images of starving

Palestinians, including children, have sparked global outrage.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian

conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas militants

attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250

hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed tens of

thousands of Palestinians, caused a hunger crisis, internally

displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of

genocide and war crimes at international courts that Israel

denies.