According to a Guardian investigation, Microsoft accused of complicity in the massive surveillance of the Palestinians by the Israeli army

In an explosive investigation, The Guardian reveals that the Israeli army uses Microsoft Cloud servers to store a colossal volume of Palestinian telephone conversations. This system, implemented by the 8200 intelligence unit with the support of Microsoft Azure, would record up to one million calls per hour, mainly in Gaza and in the West Bank.

The initiative was launched in 2021, following a meeting between the chief of unit 8200, Yossi Sariel, and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, at the headquarters of the company in the United States. According to internal documents consulted by the British daily, the agreement has made it possible to create an area dedicated to the Azure cloud, hosting thousands of sensitive data teraoctes in centers in Ireland and the Netherlands.

Still according to The Guardianthe recordings would have been used to locate targets, prepare strikes, and in some cases, to exercise blackmail or justify a posteriori arrests. Surveillance is not limited to individuals suspected of hostile activities: any Palestinian is potentially spied, his calls scrutinized, stored, analyzed. A logic of “mass suspicion” has imposed itself, where privacy is abolished in the name of the security of the Israeli State.

The partnership between Microsoft and Unit 8200 would have generated considerable profits for the American giant, presented internally as a “strategic” commercial opportunity. However, this collaboration raises heavy ethical questions, especially since the company claims to have had “no knowledge” of the type of data collected. A denial difficult to believe, while Microsoft engineers would have participated in the technical implementation of the system, under direct instruction of the army.

These revelations throw raw light on the role of certain multinationals in the architecture of the Israeli occupation. Microsoft, often perceived as a neutral actor of innovation, is found here mixed with mass monitoring aimed at a population under military occupation. This case raises the crucial question of the moral responsibility of companies that sell technological solutions to regimes violating international law. At a time when Gaza is ravaged by a genocide which has already killed more than 60,000 people, including thousands of children, Microsoft’s silence, just like his desire to hide behind an alleged ignorance, sounds like a form of complicity. It is no longer simply technology: it is an oppression tool.