Israeli troops reported to have targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central Gaza

Microsoft is investigating how Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, is using its Azure cloud storage platform, amid concerns the company’s staff in Israel may have concealed key details about its work on sensitive military projects.

Senior executives are scrambling to assess what data Unit 8200 holds in Azure after a Guardian investigation revealed how the spy agency has used the cloud platform to store a vast collection of intercepted Palestinian mobile phone calls.

The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s plans to expand military control over the enclave have pushed Germany to curb arms exports to Israel, a historically fraught step for Berlin driven by a growing public outcry. Conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, hitherto a staunchly pro-Israel leader, made the announcement on Friday arguing that Israel’s actions would not achieve its stated war goals of eliminating Hamas militants or bringing Israeli hostages home.

The UN Security Council announced an emergency meeting on Israel’s plans was rescheduled to 10am EDT on Sunday (3pm BST) after originally being scheduled to take place at 3pm EDT (8pm BST) on Saturday. The UN Mission of Panama, which holds the council presidency this month, provided no details, but Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath and Israel is certain to want to speak at the meeting.

The efforts for a new ceasefire have the backing of major Arab Gulf monarchies, according to two officials who spoke to AP anonymously due to the sensitivity of the discussions. One is involved directly in the deliberations and the second was briefed on the efforts. The monarchies are concerned about further regional destabilization if Israel fully reoccupies Gaza, the officials said. A senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media, said the group has yet to receive details on the latest efforts to revive ceasefire talks.

Source: Guardian - World News