WASHINGTON — Microsoft has fired four employees who participated in protests on company premises against the firm’s ties to Israel as it wages war on Hamas 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 anti-Israel 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 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.

Israel vociferously denies there is a genocide in........

© The Times of Israel