Google fires more workers who protested Israel cloud contract

April 23 (UPI) -- Google confirmed on Monday that it fired 20 more employees who denounced the tech giant's cloud computing deal with Israel during protests last week in New York City and Sunnyvale, Calif.

The world's computer search leader has now fired more than 50 people over the protests that have grown from the Gaza war that started last October, activists told The Washington Post. Reports placed the first round of firings after the protests at 28 last week.

Jane Chung, a spokesperson for the activist group No Tech for Apartheid, charged Google with trying to quash dissent within the company. The group has led demonstrations over Google and Amazon's contracts with the Israeli government since 2021.

Google did not give specific numbers of how many were fired, it accused them of being involved in "disruptive activity.

"To reiterate, every single one of those whose employment was terminated was personally and definitively involved in disruptive activity inside our buildings," a Google spokesperson told The Hill. "We carefully confirmed and reconfirmed this."

Google said it took longer to learn about others participating in the protests because masks partially concealed their identities and they were not wearing badges.

While Google has faced a backlash from some employees over the Israeli government contract since 2021, it picked up steam with the country's military response to the initial Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

No Tech for Apartheid accused Google of not giving the accused due process and "unceremoniously" firing faithful workers for had a right to protest.

"That's because Google values its profits, and its $1.2 billion contract with the Israel government and military more than people," the group said, according to The Hill.