Microsoft disables services to unit in Israel's Ministry of Defence

Announcement follows internal review after reports indicated technology was being used by Israeli military in Gaza

Pro-Palestine demonstrators at the Microsoft building in Redmond, Washington, in August. Bloomberg

Microsoft on Thursday said it has disabled a set of services to a unit in Israel's Ministry of Defence.

The announcement followed internal reviews at the company after reports indicated that Microsoft technology was being used by the Israeli military in Gaza.

In a post to the company's blog, Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chairman and president, said that the review process had “found evidence that supports elements” of those reports.

“This evidence includes information relating to IMOD [Israel Ministry of Defence] consumption of Azure storage capacity in the Netherlands and the use of AI services,” Mr Smith wrote.

The Guardian, which first reported on Microsoft's ties to the Israeli military, said the company has ended the access for Unit 8200, which the outlet describes as the military's elite spy agency, to technology it used to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected millions of civilian phone calls in Gaza and the West Bank.

But Mr Smith said that Microsoft does not provide its technology to enable the mass surveillance of civilians, and that it respects and protects customers' privacy rights.

Mr Smith emphasised that the reviews did not involve accessing the Ministry of Defence's customer content, but instead focused on reviewing Microsoft's business records and communications.

“Microsoft is not a government or a country. We are a company,” he wrote. “Like every company, we decide what products and services to offer to our customers.”

Since April, the software company has come under criticism from various groups, chief among them No Azure for Apartheid, which claims that Microsoft's AI and cloud products have been used to target Palestinians in the war in Gaza. In late August, pro-Palestine protesters occupied Mr Smith's office in Redmond, Washington.

Microsoft announced in May that an internal review had found “no evidence” its products have been used to harm people in Gaza.

There were caveats in the review, however, particularly an acknowledgement that because of the nature of how software and AI tools are used by various entities, Microsoft's investigation might have been limited.

Company concerns culminated in a shareholder resolution submitted and supported by 60 investors that is seeking to push Microsoft to evaluate its effectiveness in promoting “human rights due diligence processes” related to its AI tools.

“Microsoft will continue to be a company guided by principles and ethics,” Mr Smith wrote. “We will hold every decision, statement, and action to this standard. This is non-negotiable.”