Microsoft employees protest use of Azure in Israeli surveillance of Palestinians
Microsoft employees protested on 20 August 2025 at the company's Washington headquarters over reports that the Israeli military's Unit 8200 surveillance agency had used Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to store recordings of millions of Palestinian phone calls. Microsoft opened an urgent external investigation into whether Israel violated the company's terms of service.
What happened
Dozens of Microsoft employees occupied the eastern campus of the company in Redmond, Washington on 20 August 2025, protesting the company's involvement with Israeli military surveillance. The protesters, organized by the group No Azure for Genocide, set up tents, held signs stating 'No work for genocide,' and later moved to an area they declared a 'free zone' on public property before being told to leave by police or face arrest for trespassing.
According to the Guardian and +972 magazine, Israel's Unit 8200 military surveillance agency had been using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to store vast recordings of phone calls made by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Microsoft stated it was not aware of civilian surveillance or phone call collection using its services.
Reported impact
The incident came amid reports of widespread famine, malnutrition and disease in Gaza, according to warnings from organizations such as the United Nations.
Index analysis
Microsoft opened an urgent external investigation into whether the Israeli military violated its terms of service by using Azure for mass surveillance or civilian targeting, according to the Guardian. The investigation, supervised by an American law firm, was described as the second investigation of this type during 2025.
Governance controls
Microsoft stated that it had not been aware of civilian monitoring or phone call collection using its services.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.