The American company Google has dismissed about 20 additional employees, who it said participated in protests denouncing the cloud computing deal that the company concluded with the Israeli government, according to the Washington Post.

This brings the total number of employees fired last week over this issue to more than 50, according to the activist group that represents them.

A Google spokesman confirmed that it had fired more employees as it continued its investigations into the April 16 protests, which included sit-ins at the company's offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California.

The firings come days after CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in a company-wide memo that they should not use the company as a "personal platform" or "dispute over controversial issues or discuss politics."

Last week, Google expelled 28 employees who participated in a 10-hour strike in the company's offices to protest its cooperation with the Israeli government and the Israeli army.