Smith, sitting on the edge of his desk in the office occupied earlier by protesters, spoke to reporters and live stream viewers. “Clearly, this was an extraordinary day,” he remarked, as the camera shook during his statement.

The protest group, known as No Azure for Apartheid, had previously disrupted Microsoft’s public events this year. They demanded the company end all agreements with the Israeli government and military.

Smith stated Microsoft’s dedication to maintaining its human rights policies and contract terms in the Middle East. He revealed that the company started an investigation after a Guardian article reported that Microsoft’s Azure cloud service was allegedly used for Palestinian surveillance. Although Microsoft disagreed with some findings, Smith acknowledged that certain issues needed further examination.

“We are working every day to get to the bottom of what’s going on, and we will,” Smith said.

Abdo Mohamed from No Azure for Apartheid informed The Verge that current Microsoft workers Riki Fameli and Anna Hattle participated in the protest, alongside ex-employees Vaniya Agrawal, Hossam Nasr, and Joe Lopez.

Smith mentioned a total of seven individuals took part in the protest, including two Microsoft employees. He noted that the Redmond police removed the protesters from the premises.

“When seven folks do as they did today, storm a building, occupy an office, lock other people out of the office, plant listening devices — even in crude form, in the form of telephones, cellphones hidden under couches and behind books — that’s not ok,” Smith said. “When they’re asked to leave and they refused, that’s not ok.”