Microsoft says it stopped providing some cloud and AI services to Israel after allegations that it used the services to conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians," Smith said in a Microsoft blog.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated on September 23 that around 640,000 people had evacuated Gaza City as Israel’s offensive into the urban area expanded. On September 24, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir called on residents of Gaza to “rise up and break away from Hamas — it is responsible for your suffering.

Israel has come under growing international pressure recently for escalating the war with the ground invasion of Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban center.

At least 20 people were injured on Wednesday when a drone launched from Yemen struck the southern Israeli city of Eilat on the Red Sea coast, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The Houthi-run government's health ministry denounced what it called Israel's "brutal crime", saying civilian facilities and residential buildings were hit and that eight people were killed.