Israel Using Microsoft to Store Millions of Palestinian Phone Calls

Date: 08 August 2025 - 22:23

News ID: ۱۴۲۳۱۴

LONDON (Dispatches) -- A recent
investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian reveals that Israel has been using Microsoft’s cloud platform to store vast amounts of data and intelligence on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The report exposes that in 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met with Yossi Sariel, commander of Israel’s Unit 8200—a military intelligence unit notorious for covert operations in the region. Sariel secured access to a “customized and segregated area” within Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform for Israeli military intelligence.
This system reportedly collects and stores recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made daily by Palestinians, enabling surveillance on a massive scale.
Despite Microsoft’s claim that Nadella was unaware of the data specifics, leaked documents and interviews with Microsoft employees and Unit 8200 insiders reveal that the platform tracks everyday communications and life details of ordinary Palestinians.
Sources from Unit 8200 indicated that this data helped plan numerous deadly airstrikes in Gaza and operations in the West Bank. The military relied on Microsoft’s cloud due to its advanced storage and computing power, aiming to intercept up to a million calls per hour.
Sensitive information is stored in Microsoft data centers located in Ireland and the Netherlands, protected by security measures designed in collaboration with Unit 8200.
While Microsoft asserts that its AI and cloud services are not intended for lethal targeting, Unit 8200 insiders confirm the data was used to identify bombing targets, especially in densely populated areas.
This investigation also highlights Israel’s increasing dependence on Western tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google for mass surveillance and intelligence analysis.
Notably, Google recently announced its $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cloud security startup Wiz, founded by Unit 8200 members.
Protests erupted last year within Google over Project Nimbus, an initiative providing advanced AI and cloud services to the Israeli military.