According to Unit 8200 sources, cited in the investigation, the cloud-based storage platform “has facilitated the preparation of deadly airstrikes and has shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Israel’s military intelligence agency has been using Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store and analyze intercepted Palestinian phone calls at a vast scale, according to an investigation by The Guardian, the Palestinian-Israeli publication +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.
The system, operational since 2022, can process up to “a million calls an hour” and has been used to support military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to the investigation, the Anadolu news agency reported.
Revealed: Microsoft storing Israeli intelligence trove used to attack Palestinians
The tech giant developed a customized version of its cloud platform for Israel’s Unit 8200, which is housing audio files of millions of calls by Palestinians.https://t.co/YzCdCoAani
— +972 Magazine (@972mag) August 6, 2025
It revealed the partnership took shape after a 2021 meeting between Israeli intelligence Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the US.
“Armed with Azure’s near-limitless storage capacity, Unit 8200 began building a powerful new mass surveillance tool: a sweeping and intrusive system that collects and stores recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” the Guardian reported.
The report stated that Microsoft claims Nadella “was unaware” of what kind of data Unit 8200 planned to store in Azure.
Intel Used in Gaza, West Bank
It said a cache of leaked Microsoft documents and interviews with 11 sources from the company and Israeli military intelligence revealed how Azure has been used by Unit 8200 “to store this expansive archive of everyday Palestinian communications.”
According to three Unit 8200 sources, cited in the investigation, the cloud-based storage platform “has facilitated the preparation of deadly airstrikes and has shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.”
No Warnings, No Fighters: HRW Documents Israeli Attacks on Gaza Schools
The sources said that the information stored in Azure provided “a rich repository” of intelligence about the West Bank population” that some in the unit claimed had been used to blackmail people, place them in detention, or even justify their killing after the fact.”
The report noted that among Microsoft staff, “the project was shrouded in considerable secrecy and engineers were told not to mention Unit 8200 by name.” Under the plan, vast stores of raw intelligence material would sit in Microsoft’s datacentres overseas; namely in the Netherlands and Ireland.
11,500 Terabytes of Info
Leaked documents and sources familiar with the system showed that by July this year, it stored around 11,500 terabytes of intercepted communications — the equivalent of roughly 200 million hours of audio.
In the wake of the October 7 Resistance operation, Sariel was criticized for apparently prioritizing the technology over “old-fashioned intelligence methods,” the report stated, leading to his resignation last year. He reportedly accepted responsibility for “8200’s part in the intelligence and operational failure”.
Microsoft Fires Employees for Protesting AI Support to Israeli Army
In Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza, the cloud-based system pioneered by Sariel “has been put to frequent use alongside a series of AI-driven target recommendation tools also developed on his watch and debuted by the military in a campaign that has devastated civilian life and created a profound humanitarian crisis,” the Guardian noted.
External Review
The report stated that after it was revealed in January that Israel relied on Microsoft technology during its military operation on Gaza, Microsoft commissioned an external review of the relationship.
The review “found no evidence to date” that Azure or its AI products were “used to target or harm people” in the enclave, Microsoft said.
. @Microsoft must not allow itself and its stockholders to be complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Reportedly allowing the Israeli military to use its servers to facilitate surveillance and targeting of civilians in Gaza is morally indefensible. We call on Microsoft to… pic.twitter.com/YarsuGqJBK
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) August 6, 2025
The company also faced pressure from employees and investors over its links to the Israeli army and the role its technology had played in the military onslaught that has killed over 61,000 people in Gaza.
In May, an employee disrupted a keynote speech by Nadella, yelling: “How about you show how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?”
Denial
A Microsoft spokesperson, according to the Guardian, said it had “no information” about the kind of data stored by Unit 8200 in its cloud, claiming the company’s “engagement with Unit 8200 has been based on strengthening cybersecurity and protecting Israel from nation state and terrorist cyber-attacks”.
Today, @Microsoft workers are taking the pledge to refuse to work on any technical support requests by the Israeli military, Israeli government, Israeli weapons manufacturers, and all businesses contributing to the economy of occupation and genocide.
🧵[1/4] pic.twitter.com/ijmTPsRD6h
— No Azure for Apartheid (@NoAz4Apartheid) July 22, 2025
The company also claimed that at no time “has Microsoft been aware of the surveillance of civilians or collection of their cellphone conversations using Microsoft’s services, including through the external review it commissioned.”
The Israeli army issued a statement saying that it “appreciated Microsoft’s support to protect our cybersecurity,” and claimed that “Microsoft is not and has not been working with the IDF on the storage or processing of data.”
Staggering Death Toll
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 61,000, wounding more than 151,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
Yet babies are starving, the genocide continues, and there is no ceasefire in sight. This is only possible because Netanyahu and AIPAC continue to wag the dogs of Washington.
Read the latest article by Jamal Kanj. https://t.co/jXfwX51uoH pic.twitter.com/rItUJZ3i0b
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) August 6, 2025
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(PC, Anadolu)
And even with the help of Microsoft, Dell, ALL the companies contributing to the genocide…and with the help of my corrupt US government and ‘ the West ‘ the Jewish Nazis still can’t win. MAN! are they good at anything? yes. killing babies, murdering helpless children, executing unarmed men and women, executing members of the Press, innocent protesters, the handicapped, elderly, animals, the ecology…
that’s all they’re good at.