An investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian has exposed Israel’s use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store vast amounts of invasive surveillance data on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This Orwellian system, developed in collaboration with Israel’s notorious Unit 8200 military intelligence unit, is enabling the occupation forces to collect and analyze millions of Palestinian phone calls daily, directly contributing to deadly airstrikes and military operations that have devastated Palestinian communities.

The investigation reveals that in 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met with Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel, who secured access to a “customized and segregated area” within Azure for Israel’s military intelligence. Leaked Microsoft documents and interviews with nearly a dozen sources from Microsoft and Unit 8200 expose how this platform has been used to hoard sensitive data, including private communications of ordinary Palestinian civilians. Three Unit 8200 sources confirmed that this data has been instrumental in Israel’s lethal airstrikes in Gaza and aggressive operations in the West Bank, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in these occupied territories.

Designed to intercept and store up to “a million calls an hour,” the system was deployed on Microsoft’s servers in Ireland and the Netherlands, fortified by security measures dictated by Unit 8200. Israeli intelligence sources admitted that Israel turned to Microsoft due to insufficient domestic storage and computing capacity to sustain its sprawling espionage network. Unit 8200 sources further revealed that the Azure-stored data has been used to select bombing targets in Gaza, including in densely populated areas, where Palestinian lives are callously endangered through the analysis of nearby communications.

Microsoft has attempted to deflect responsibility, claiming Nadella was unaware of the data’s nature and citing an internal review that found “no evidence” of its AI or cloud systems being used for harm. A company source told The Guardian that Microsoft had explicitly prohibited the use of its technology for identifying lethal strike targets. However, Unit 8200 sources directly contradicted this, confirming that the platform’s data repositories have been pivotal in Israel’s relentless bombing campaigns in Gaza, which have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

This revelation underscores Israel’s dependence on Western tech giants, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, to sustain its oppressive surveillance and military apparatus. Earlier reports by +972 Magazine and Local Call exposed Unit 8200’s development of a “Chat GPT-like” tool trained on intercepted Palestinian communications to further entrench Israel’s control. Additionally, advanced facial recognition technology has facilitated the forced disappearance and abduction of countless Palestinians in Gaza.The investigation also highlights growing resistance within the tech industry. Last year, Google fired dozens of employees for protesting Project Nimbus, a deal to provide Israel’s military with advanced AI and cloud services. Google’s recent $32 billion bid to acquire Wiz, an Israeli cloud security startup founded by Unit 8200 members, further illustrates the troubling collusion between Western tech firms and Israel’s occupation forces.

Palestinian advocates are calling for international action to hold Microsoft and other tech giants accountable for enabling Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. The use of such platforms to store intrusive surveillance data and support deadly military operations demands urgent scrutiny and an end to corporate complicity in the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people. (ILKHA)