Microsoft Launches Urgent Review Into Alleged Azure Use for Palestinian Surveillance
Microsoft is conducting an urgent review into whether its Azure cloud platform has been used by Israeli authorities to run a large-scale surveillance program targeting Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The move follows two years of internal dissent and external criticism over the company’s role in the ongoing conflict, including employee protests and disruptions at company events.
A recent report alleged that Israel’s Unit 8200 gained access to a customized, segregated Azure environment, arranged through a high-level deal, and that this isolated setup supported a sweeping system built to ingest and store recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made daily by Palestinians. The allegations center on the use of Microsoft cloud infrastructure to facilitate mass collection and long-term storage of sensitive communications data.
In response, Microsoft said the claims warrant a full and urgent review and confirmed that outside counsel from Covington & Burling will oversee the process. The company added that using Azure to store data obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians would violate its terms of service.
This is Microsoft’s second legal inquiry into its relationship with Israeli government entities this year. Following staff demonstrations earlier, the company released findings in May stating it had found no evidence to date that Azure or its AI technologies had been used to target or harm people in Gaza.
The wider tech sector is facing similar scrutiny. Major cloud and AI providers, including other U.S. firms, have been accused by advocacy and human rights groups of enabling Israeli military and intelligence capabilities by offering government-wide access to cloud computing and artificial intelligence, bolstering data processing, decision-making, and surveillance.
What the review could examine: how Azure tenants were provisioned and isolated; whether any “siloed” environments existed; audit trails and access logs; data residency and retention configurations; and whether applicable contractual terms, acceptable use policies, and export controls were enforced.
The stakes are significant for Microsoft, which must balance security commitments, customer privacy, and international law compliance while managing employee concerns and reputational risk. The outcome of the investigation may shape future cloud governance practices in conflict zones and set precedent for how hyperscalers police potential misuse of their platforms.
