Israel utilizes Microsoft Cloud to store extensive call data, allegedly for targeting Palestinians.
Microsoft has partnered with Israel's military intelligence unit, Unit 8200, to provide cloud services that facilitate the storage and analysis of millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls in Gaza and the West Bank since 2022.
The collaboration, which began after a 2021 meeting between Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, has resulted in a customized, segregated Azure cloud environment to handle the massive volume of communications—up to a million calls per hour—far exceeding Israeli military servers' capacity.
This extensive use of Microsoft Azure supports Israeli military operations by enabling the storage of about 11,500 terabytes (around 200 million hours) of audio surveillance. The data collected is reportedly used to influence lethal airstrikes and military targeting decisions.
In addition to providing storage, Microsoft has supplied artificial intelligence tools to assist Unit 8200 in identifying suspicious communication content used in predictive arrest and targeting programs.
Despite Microsoft's public statements that it found "no evidence" that its technology was used to harm Palestinians in Gaza, leaked internal sources and investigations reveal the cloud infrastructure has facilitated broad mass surveillance of the Palestinian population, including ordinary civilians.
The partnership between Unit 8200 and Microsoft has reportedly been key in intelligence operations that reportedly include blackmail, detention justification, and post-factum killing validation.
Some of the Microsoft engineers involved in the collaboration were alumni of Unit 8200, making the collaboration easier. Microsoft's leadership views the cultivation of the company's relationship with Unit 8200 as a lucrative business opportunity and characterizes it internally as "an incredibly powerful brand moment" for Azure.
It is worth noting that some countries, such as France and Germany, require corporations to check for human rights violations in their supply chains by law. If it were to be revealed that corporations are operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, such laws "may lead to the issuance of orders to prevent or restrict services" to Israel.
References:
- The Intercept
- The New York Times
- The Guardian
- Haaretz
- Al Jazeera
- Turkiye's government, expressing concern about the collaboration between Microsoft and Israel's Unit 8200, has called for an investigation into the use of technology in war-and-conflicts that allegedly led to human rights violations in Gaza.
- Amidst growing criticism, Microsoft finds itself at the center of a political storm over its partnership with Unit 8200, with general-news outlets questioning the morality of providing technology to an organization linked to controversial intelligence operations and crime-and-justice activities.
- As France and Germany introduce laws requiring corporations to scrutinize their supply chains for human rights violations, the political implications of Microsoft's partnership with Unit 8200 within the occupied Palestinian territories could potentially shake the foundations of the tech giant's business finance and global reputation.
