Seattle: Microsoft has cut off the Israeli military’s elite Unit 8200 from using its cloud and artificial intelligence services after revelations that the unit operated a mass surveillance system targeting Palestinians. The Guardian reported that the system collected millions of phone calls daily from Gaza and the West Bank and stored them on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.
Microsoft executives informed Israeli officials last week that the unit had violated the company’s terms of service. The decision came after a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call revealed how Unit 8200 was using Azure to store up to 8,000 terabytes of intercepted Palestinian communications. The system, described internally as “a million calls an hour,” allowed intelligence officers to record, replay, and analyze conversations of entire communities.
The surveillance project began after a 2021 meeting between Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and Unit 8200’s then commander Yossi Sariel. Following the media investigation, Microsoft launched an urgent inquiry and quickly suspended the unit’s access. Within days, Unit 8200 reportedly transferred its data out of a Microsoft datacenter in the Netherlands and began shifting operations to Amazon Web Services.
The move follows mounting pressure from Microsoft employees and investors who campaigned under the banner “No Azure for Apartheid.” Protests were staged in Seattle and at a European datacenter, demanding the company sever ties with the Israeli military. Microsoft President Brad Smith confirmed the suspension in an internal email, stating, “We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians.”
