Microsoft Blocks the Use of Israeli Technology in Mass Surveillance of Palestinians

Microsoft has ended its access to Israeli military technology. It ended access to technology used to operate a powerful surveillance system that flocked to millions of Palestinian private telephones that took place daily in Gaza and the West Bank.

Microsoft told Israeli officials last week that Unit 8200, the military's elite spy agency, violated the company's terms of service by storing vast amounts of surveillance data on the Azure cloud platform.

A study published last month by The Guardian decided to cut off the ability of the unit 8200 to use some of the technology. We've revealed how Azure is used to store and process Palestinian Communications trobes in mass surveillance programs.

In a joint investigation between Israeli-Palestinian Publications +972 Magazine and Hebrew Outlet Local Call, The Guardian revealed how Microsoft and Unit 8200 worked together in a plan to move a large amount of sensitive intelligence material into the navy blue.

The project began in 2021 after a meeting between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and then Commander Yossi Sariel.

In response to the investigation, Microsoft ordered an emergency external investigation and reviewed its relationship with Unit 8200. That initial finding led the company to cancel access to some of its cloud storage and AI services.

With Azure's near-limiting storage capacity and computing power, the Unit 8200 has built a new indiscriminate system that allows intelligence officers to collect, reproduce and analyze the contents of cell calls in the entire population.

The project was so vast that a mantra emerged that captured its size and ambitions, according to sources from the equivalent Unit 8200 for remittances to the US National Security Agency.

According to several sources, the vast repository of intercepted calls (equivalent to 8,000 terabytes of data) was held at Microsoft data centers in the Netherlands. Within days after the Guardian published the investigation, Unit 8200 appears to have moved its surveillance data quickly abroad.

It happened in early August, according to sources familiar with huge data transfers outside of the EU. According to Intelligence Sources, Unit 8200 will transfer data to the Amazon Web Services Cloud platform. Neither the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) nor Amazon responded to requests for comment.

Microsoft's extraordinary decision to end access to key technologies for spy agencies has been pressured in the jobs of Israeli military forces, and in the role that the technology played in the nearly two years of attack in Gaza.

The UN Commission on Inquiry recently concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Gaza was rejected by Israel, but is supported by many experts in international law.

The Guardian joint investigation prompted protests at Microsoft's US headquarters and one of its European data centers, demanding apartheid's azure, a worker-led campaign group, to end all ties with the Israeli military.

Demonstrators outside the Microsoft event held in Seattle in May. Photo: Jason Redmond/AFP by Getty Images

On Thursday, Microsoft vice-chairman and president Brad Smith informed staff of the decision. In an email seen by the Guardian, he said the company “stops and disables a series of services” to “units within the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” including cloud storage and AI services.

Smith wrote: “We don't provide technology to promote large-scale civilian surveillance. We apply this principle in all countries around the world and have been arguing repeatedly for over 20 years.”

The decision abruptly ends a three-year period in which spy agencies used Microsoft's technology to run surveillance programs.

Unit 8200 used its own vast monitoring capabilities to intercept and collect calls. Spy agencies used customized isolation areas within the Azure platform to retain data for a long time and analyzed using AI-driven techniques.

The initial focus of the surveillance system was on the West Bank, where an estimated 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military occupation, but intelligence sources said cloud-based storage platforms were being used in the Gaza attacks to facilitate preparations for a deadly airstrike.

The revelation underscored how Israel relies on the services and infrastructure of major US technology companies, helping to bomb Gaza.

Q&A

How many Palestinians were killed in Israel's campaign against Gaza?

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At least 60,000 people were killed and nearly 1,200 people died in Israel's current military campaign after a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza health authorities.

The actual number of deaths can be significantly higher. This is because it only includes Palestinians who have been killed by recovered bombs and bullets, excludes thousands who have been trapped under tile rubs or killed by hunger or other indirect victims.

According to data that includes extremist deaths, women, children and seniors account for about 55% of recorded deaths.

According to documents seen by the Guardian, senior Microsoft executives told Israel's Ministry of Defense later last week: “Our review is ongoing, but at this point we have identified evidence that supports elements of the Guardian reporting.”

Executives told Israeli officials that Microsoft “is not a business that promotes mass surveillance of civilians,” notifying them that it would “disable” access to services that support the Unit 8200 surveillance project and suspend the use of some AI products.

The end is the first known case of a US technology company to withdraw services offered to Israeli forces since the start of the war with Gaza.

This decision has not affected Microsoft's broader commercial relationship with long-time clients and IDFs who maintain access to other services. The end raises questions within Israel about its policy of retaining sensitive military data in third-party clouds hosted overseas.

Last month's revelation regarding the use of Microsoft Technology units followed the broader relationship between the company and the Israeli military, following previous investigations by the Guardian and its partners.

Based on files released and leaked in January, the story showed how IDF's reliance on Azure and its AI systems surged during the most intensive phase of the Gaza campaign.

After that report, Microsoft began its initial review of how IDFs use the service. He said in May that “no evidence has been found so far.” The military either failed to comply with its terms of service or used Azure and AI technology in Gaza that “target or hurt people.”

However, the Guardian investigation by Local Call, published in +972 and August, revealed that cloud-based surveillance projects were used to investigate and identify bomb targets in Gaza, and began to reassess the conclusions.

The disclosure has raised warnings among senior Microsoft executives, raising concerns that some Israel-based employees may not have been completely transparent about their knowledge of how they used Azure when asked as part of their review.

The company said executives, including Nadella, are not aware of the unit 8200 that they plan to use or ultimately use Azure to store the contents of intercepted Palestinian calls.

Microsoft then began a second, more targeted review. This was overseen by lawyers for the US company Covington & Burling. In a note to staff, Smith said the survey had no access to customer data, but the findings were based on reviews of internal Microsoft documents, emails and messages between staff.

“I would like to note my appreciation for the Guardian's report,” Smith wrote, noting that he revealed “information that was not accessible in light of the customer's privacy commitments.” He added: “Our review is ongoing.”

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