REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft announced that it would launch a review into the Israeli Defense Force’s use of Microsoft Azure after The Guardian reported that the program was being used to monitor millions of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Guardian article was published on August 6 and reported on an investigation they conducted alongside Israeli-Palestinian Publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.
In the article, the writers claim that Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, struck a deal with Microsoft to use a customized and separated section of their Azure cloud platform. Then, the writers claim that Unit 8200 used Azure to collect phone calls from Palestinians in Gaza and the West bank.
Israel already intercepted calls made in occupied territories like Gaza and the West Bank because of their control over Palestinian telecommunications infrastructure, wrote the Guardian, but Azure allowed Unit 8200 to store the phone calls and play them back, allowing for more extensive surveillance.
On August 15, Microsoft announced that it would launch a formal review of the Guardian’s allegations about Unit 8200’s use of Azure.
The announcement said that using Azure to store data files of phone calls obtained through mass surveillance of civilians is against their terms of service and is prohibited.
The tech company said it would turn to the law firm of Covington and Buling LLP, with technical assistance from an independent consulting firm, to conduct the review.
“Microsoft appreciates that The Guardian’s recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review,” it wrote in the announcement.
Microsoft said it would public the findings of its review once complete.
The announcement was released as an update to an announcement on May 15, 2025, which addressed similar allegations made against the company.
The first announcement addressed concerns that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies were being used by the Israeli military to target civilians in Gaza. Microsoft said that it conducted an internal review and found no evidence that its technologies were being used to target or harm people in Gaza.
It clarified that the Israeli Ministry of Defense is a customer of Microsoft and uses software, professional services, Azure cloud service, Azure AI services and language translation.
The relationship is a standard commercial relationship, wrote Microsoft, which means that the Israeli Ministry of Defense is bound by Microsoft’s terms of services and conditions of use, which would prohibit the use of their technologies in any manner that inflicts harm on individuals.
There are occasional exceptions to Microsoft’s rules about following terms of use.
“We do occasionally provide special access to our technologies beyond the terms of our commercial agreements. In addition to the commercial relationship with the IMOD, Microsoft provided limited emergency support to the Israeli government in the weeks following October 7, 2023, to help rescue hostages. We provided this help with significant oversight and on a limited basis, including approval of some requests and denial of others. We believe the company followed its principles on a considered and careful basis, to help save the lives of hostages while also honoring the privacy and other rights of civilians in Gaza,” wrote Microsoft.
Microsoft ended their May 15 statement writing that it believed that Israel did not use Microsoft technologies to harm civilians.
“The work we do everywhere in the world is informed and governed by our Human Rights Commitments. Based on everything we currently know, we believe Microsoft has abided by these Commitments in Israel and Gaza,” it wrote.
To read the Guardian’s investigative article into Microsoft, click HERE. To read Microsoft’s response, click HERE.
