Microsoft Suspends Services to Israeli Military Unit Over Surveillance of Palestinians

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Microsoft announced on Thursday that it has disabled a series of cloud and AI services used by a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD). As reported by CNA, this action came after an internal review found preliminary evidence supporting media reports that the services were being used to spy on Palestinian residents in Gaza and the West Bank.

Microsoft President Brad Smith stated that the company initiated the review after an article in the Guardian accused a unit of the Israel Defense Forces of engaging in surveillance activities.

A joint investigation published in early August by the Guardian, the Israel-Palestine publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call reported that an Israeli military surveillance agency used Microsoft's Azure to store a large number of mobile phone call records of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The Guardian investigation stated that Israel relied on Microsoft's cloud for wide-scale surveillance of Palestinians.

While the review is ongoing, Microsoft stated that it found evidence supporting the Guardian reports, including details of IMOD's Azure storage consumption in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.

"We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians," said Smith in a Microsoft blog.

Microsoft has informed the Israel Ministry of Defense of its "decision to stop and deactivate certain IMOD subscriptions and services, including the use of cloud storage and specific AI technology."

However, this action will not affect Microsoft's cybersecurity services for Israel and other countries in the Middle East, Smith said.

At the end of August, Microsoft terminated four employees who participated in protests within the company over its relationship with Israel while the conflict in Gaza was ongoing, including two individuals who took part in a sit-in at the company's headquarters.

Microsoft stated that the termination of employment followed serious policy violations, and the onsite demonstrations had "posed significant security problems."

Collaboration Before the October 7 Attack

An AP investigation in February, as reported by ABC News, indicated that the use of Microsoft products by the Israeli military surged after a deadly, sudden attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The AP report cited internal Microsoft data showing that Israel utilized gigabit-sized cloud storage and AI-based language translation services on a large scale.

AP also reported that the Israeli military used Microsoft Azure to compile information collected through mass surveillance, which was then transcribed, translated, and analyzed, including phone calls and text messages. This intelligence was subsequently cross-checked with Israel's internal AI systems to target air strikes.

AP reported that internal Microsoft data indicated several Azure subscriptions were associated with Unit 8200, an elite cyber warfare unit within the Israeli Army responsible for secret operations, signal intelligence collection, and surveillance.

Following the AP report, Microsoft admitted in May that they had sold advanced AI and cloud computing services to the Israeli military during the Gaza genocide and assisted in Israeli hostage search and rescue efforts. However, the company claimed that an internal review did not find "evidence" that its Azure platform was used to target or harm civilians.

The Guardian, in collaboration with the Israel-Palestine publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language media Local Call, reported in August that Unit 8200 commanders had directly met with Microsoft's chairman and CEO Satya Nadella in 2021. This meeting took place before the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

The Israeli unit then utilized Microsoft products to aid in the development of AI-powered mass surveillance systems that scanned, translated, and analyzed millions of phone calls made by Palestinian civilians each day. The report also revealed that data from the Israeli surveillance system was stored in Microsoft's cloud data center in Europe.

Following The Guardian report, Microsoft commissioned a second review, this time by an external law firm. While the review is ongoing, Smith stated on Thursday that the investigation had found evidence that their products were being used to violate their terms of service.

However, Smith did not specify the name of the Israeli unit that lost access to Microsoft's services.

Microsoft declined to answer detailed questions from AP on Thursday, including whether Unit 8200 was involved.

The company also did not respond to how it would ensure that the Israeli military would not simply shift mass surveillance operations to any of the other hundreds of Azure subscriptions under its control.

An Israeli security official stated that Microsoft's move would not "disrupt IDF's operational capability." The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with military protocol in Israel.

Hossam Nasr, one of over a dozen Microsoft employees fired or arrested following protests over the company's involvement in the Gaza genocide, called Thursday's announcement a "significant and unprecedented victory."

However, he said it was not enough.

An organizer from the group No Azure for Apartheid, Nasr, said Microsoft has only disabled a small part of services for just one unit in the Israeli military. The majority of Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli military remain intact.

Editor's Choice: At Least 65,502 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Since 2023, Health Ministry Reports

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News