In a status update published to its website, Microsoft said “network traffic traversing through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea”.

The global software giant said its Azure cloud computing services, the world’s second largest after Amazon, were affected by the cuts but added that general network traffic was not impacted.

On Sunday morning, the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV acknowledged the cuts, citing NetBlocks. Microsoft’s Azure has been storing information, including intercepted Palestinian phone calls in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip for Israel’s military, according to an investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call.