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Microsoft has stopped providing some services to the Israeli military, following an investigation into the use of the company’s products to surveil Palestinian civilians.
The US software giant said on Thursday it had found evidence that “supported elements” of a media investigation which claimed Israel’s defence ministry had stored mass surveillance data on its servers.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice-chair and president, said in a statement that the company had informed Israel of its decision to “cease and disable” some subscriptions, including the use of “specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies”.
“We have reviewed this decision with [Israel’s ministry of defence] and the steps we are taking to ensure compliance with our terms of service,” Smith added.
The Redmond, Washington-based company’s decision to suspend some services comes as humanitarian conditions in Gaza have worsened under Israel’s assault.
Israel has been fighting a near two-year war in Gaza in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. Its conduct in the conflict has drawn increasing international condemnation.
The media reports by The Guardian and other publications, said Israel’s Unit 8200, which is responsible for signals intelligence, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to store data from phone calls obtained through “broad or mass surveillance” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Microsoft and other global businesses have faced a wave of public pressure and criticism from staff over dealings with Israel.
A group of current and former Microsoft employees called No Azure for Apartheid have disrupted multiple company events in protest at the company’s actions.
Hossam Nasr, an organiser with the group, said Thursday’s move marked the first time a major US technology company had stopped selling to the Israeli military since the country’s occupation of Gaza.
“The vast majority of Microsoft’s contract with the Israeli military remains intact,” Nasr said. “Microsoft continues to be the technological backbone for a military that is carrying out the world’s most-documented genocide.”
Israel denies the allegation of genocide, and says it is fighting the Palestinian militant group, Hamas. Microsoft did not immediately respond.
Microsoft in late August fired four employees involved in the movement who had set up encampments on the company’s premises. Two of the individuals fired were involved in a sit-in at Smith’s office.
Smith told employees in a recent town hall that the decision to suspend some services for the Israeli defence ministry “does not impact” the company’s work to “protect the cyber security of Israel and other countries in the Middle East”, according to his blog post.
Israel’s army radio has reported that Unit 8200 backed up surveillance material in recent weeks in an effort to keep its access to the data.
The Israeli defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
