Microsoft employees were arrested by police during the second day of protests against the company's ties to Israel at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Protesters occupied the campus on August 19 to call for Microsoft to stop doing business with Israel due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, handing out a 3,300-word declaration outlining their aims, reported Bloomberg.

The Tuesday demonstration saw protesters told to leave or face trespassing charges, which they then did. However, a separate Bloomberg report states that they returned the following day, building a makeshift barricade with bicycles and upturned tables, setting up tents and chanting.

Police arrived about an hour after the demonstration recommenced and, according to Bloomberg, several protesters were led off in handcuffs and zip ties. One protester was wrestled to the ground by police and taken away.

DCD has contacted Microsoft for comment on these latest protests.

A dedicated employee group within Microsoft - No Azure for Apartheid - has been calling for the company to stop providing cloud and AI services to Israel for at least a year, claiming that they are contributing to civilian deaths in Gaza.

Earlier this year, a protest was similarly staged during a company meeting at the headquarters, with five employees being removed from the meeting. Microsoft has been known to fire employees for staging protests, having in October 2024 let go two employees for holding a vigil for Palestinian refugees at the company headquarters.

In May, Microsoft confirmed it provided Israel's military with cloud computing services, though following an internal review, said it had found "no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza."

However, a recent investigation conducted by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, found that Israel's military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, is using Microsoft's cloud platform to store audio files from millions of phone calls made by Palestinians, and that data has even been used to coordinate military attacks on Palestinians.

This investigation led to another protest on the roof of a Microsoft data center in the Netherlands, with activists calling on "all employees of the data center to lay down their work until all Israeli intelligence has been removed from the servers.”

Addressing the reports from The Guardian about its work with Unit 8200, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the company "takes these allegations seriously, as shown by our previous independent investigation. As we receive new information, we’re committed to making sure we have a chance to validate any new data and take any needed action.”

Microsoft has since launched an investigation to examine how its cloud platform was being used by the surveillance agency. The cloud company has enlisted law firm Covington & Burling to conduct the review.

In an August 15 update to Microsoft's statement on relations with Israel, the company noted: "Microsoft appreciates that The Guardian’s recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review. The company will share with the public the factual findings that result from this review, once it is complete."