TRTWorld

The tech giant says a review confirmed elements of reports that Israeli military intelligence used Azure to intercept Palestinian calls at scale.

Microsoft on Thursday said it disabled a set of cloud and AI services used by a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal review found preliminary evidence supporting media reports of a surveillance system in Gaza and occupied West Bank.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said the company began the review after allegations published in an article by the Guardian in August about a unit of the Israeli forces.

While the review is ongoing, Microsoft said it found evidence supporting elements of the Guardian’s reporting, including details on IMOD’s consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services.

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Operational since 2022, the system allegedly stores millions of calls daily, which intelligence sources say have been instrumental in guiding air strikes, blackmail, detentions, and post facto justifications for killings in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Microsoft has been on the firing line of protests for months, with pro-Palestine activists staging sit-ins, encampments, and office disruptions under the No Azure for Apartheid banner.

No Azure for Apartheid, whose name references Microsoft’s Azure software, has demanded that the company cut its ties to Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians.

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