Micrsoft has announced it disabled a set of its services to an Israel Ministry of Defense unit after an August article in The Guardian alleged the Israel Defense Forces were using Microsoft products to store surveillance of Palestinians, Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft said in a note with employees Thursday.

The article revealed a unit of the Israel Defense Forces was using Azure to store "data files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank."

Microsoft said while it has not accessed the Israeli government's data in its review, it has found "evidence that supports elements of The Guardian’s reporting."

"We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians. We have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades. This is why we explained publicly on August 15 that Microsoft’s standard terms of service prohibit the use of our technology for mass surveillance of civilians," Smith said.

Microsoft said its review was based in part on information the Guardian collected from outside of Microsoft that the company "could not access in light of [its] customer privacy commitments."

"We therefore have informed IMOD of Microsoft’s decision to cease and disable specified IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies. We have reviewed this decision with IMOD and the steps we are taking to ensure compliance with our terms of service, focused on ensuring our services are not used for mass surveillance of civilians," Smith said.

Israel's Iron Dome failed to intercept the drone attack launched by the Houthis on southern Israel Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The UAV was detected "relatively late," according to an initial inquiry by the commander of the Israeli air force.

"Interception attempts were made using the Iron Dome, but were unsuccessful. The cause for that has been identified, and corrective measures were implemented," the IDF said Thursday.

"The Commander of the Israeli Air Force has instructed several additional steps to strengthen readiness, detection, and interception capabilities, and will provide an enhanced defensive response in the area," the IDF said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip a genocide and called for an end to the incursion.

"I speak to you today after almost two years in which our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement waged by the Israeli occupation forces," Abbas said speaking at the United Nations General Assembly.

"What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity that is both documented and monitored and it will be recorded in history books and the pages of international conscious as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries," Abbas said.

A committee has began its work to draft a constitution for the state of Palestine as a nation-state and that will be completed within three months. This will be for the state of Palestine with the 1967 borders and east Jerusalem as its capital, Abbas said.

Abbas also called for Israel to stop its plans to establish more illegal settlements and plans to annex more land in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, is prepared to take on the burden of governing the Gaza Strip, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

Abbas condemned Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, saying the attack on civilians does not represent the Palestinian people.

Abbas expressed his "gratitude and appreciation" to the states that recently recognized the state of Palestine, including France, the U.K., Canada and Belgium. Now, 157 states recognize Palestine.

The Palestinian government recognized the state of Israel in 1988 and 1993 and still recognizes Israel's right to exist, Abbas said.

He called for an immediate and permanent end to the war in Gaza, the immediate entry of aid through the United Nations organizations, the immediate release of all hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip and the ending of plans for new illegal settlements.