Above photo: Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times.
Activist network No Azure for Apartheid dismissed Microsoft’s review as a stalling tactic.
Demanding the company cut ties with Israel’s military, disclose all contracts, and call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Microsoft announced on 15 August that it has opened an independent review into the reported use of its Azure cloud technology by the Israeli military’s Unit 8200, following detailed investigations published by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call.
The company updated a blog post originally published in May, saying it does not always have visibility into how clients deploy its software once installed on private servers and devices.
“Microsoft appreciates that The Guardian’s recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review,” the company said. It pledged to release its findings once the review, led by Covington & Burling LLP, is complete.
Microsoft investigates claims that Israel used Azure for mass surveillance of Palestinians
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The Guardian reports that Microsoft has launched an “urgent” external inquiry after revelations that Israel’s Unit 8200 used its Azure cloud platform to store recordings of millions of… pic.twitter.com/FwLbeeIVc4— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) August 15, 2025
The reports cite anonymous sources claiming that Unit 8200 of the Israeli military stored recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank on Microsoft’s cloud servers, and that this data “has shaped military operations” in both territories.
According to leaked documents cited by the investigation, vast repositories of this information were held in Microsoft’s data centers in Ireland and the Netherlands. Microsoft said the claims, if accurate, would breach its terms of service.
In May, Microsoft insisted its internal checks found “no evidence” that its services had been used to target or harm Palestinians, despite acknowledging it supplies Israel’s Ministry of Defense with software, professional services, cloud and AI platforms, translation tools, and cybersecurity products.
The same investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call also reported that Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella personally approved access for Unit 8200 to a ‘customized and segregated area’ inside Azure in 2021.
Unit 8200, the same unit that was involved in the pager terror attacks in Lebanon in September 2024 that killed 42 people, including two children, and wounded over 3,500, was said to have been using the system to examine calls around planned strikes in Gaza’s densely populated neighborhoods.
Israeli sources also noted Tel Aviv’s growing dependence on western firms such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to process and store intelligence data.
Activist network No Azure for Apartheid, made up of current and former Microsoft workers, rejected the new inquiry as a delaying tactic.
“Microsoft’s so-called urgent inquiry into its business with Israel’s Unit 8200 is nothing more than a stalling tactic,” organizer Abdo Mohamed said in a statement.
The group has staged repeated protests at Microsoft events in recent months, demanding the company cut ties with Israel and disclose all defense-related contracts.
Two employees involved in organizing were fired after interrupting executive speeches to accuse company leadership of complicity in Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
