Microsoft halts cloud and AI services to Israel's defence ministry unit

Microsoft on Thursday said it disabled a set of cloud and AI services used by a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) after an internal review found preliminary evidence supporting media reports of a surveillance system in Gaza and West Bank. 

Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said the company opened the review after an August article by the Guardian alleged activity by a unit of the Israel Defense Forces. 

The Guardian reported that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was using Microsoft's Azure for collecting and storing data on phone calls made by civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. 

While the review is ongoing, Microsoft said it found evidence supporting elements of the Guardian's reporting, including details on IMOD's consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services. 

"We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians," Smith said in a Microsoft blog. 

Microsoft has informed the Israeli defense ministry of its "decision to cease and disable specified IMOD subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies." 

The action does not impact Microsoft's cybersecurity services to Israel and other countries in the Middle East, Smith said.

In late August, Microsoft fired four employees who took part in protests on company premises over the company's ties to Israel as the war in Gaza continues, including two who joined a sit-in at the office of the company's president. 

The company said the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies and the on-site demonstrations had "created significant safety concerns."