Microsoft’s Azure cloud has been storing a vast archive of intercepted phone conversations of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank under a classified programme run by Israel’s military signals-intelligence arm, Unit 8200, according to an investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call published on 6 August. Leaked Microsoft documents and interviews with current and former intelligence officers indicate that the project, operational since 2022, captures and keeps recordings of “a million calls an hour”. By July 2025 about 11,500 terabytes—roughly 200 million hours of audio—had been uploaded to Azure data centres in the Netherlands and Ireland, with the unit aiming eventually to migrate up to 70 % of its classified data to the platform. Sources from Unit 8200 say the cloud-based trove has been used to research and select targets for airstrikes in Gaza and to justify arrests in the West Bank. The system reportedly intensified in use during Israel’s 22-month offensive in Gaza, where local authorities put the death toll at more than 60,000 people, most of them civilians. The partnership followed a 2021 meeting at Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters between then–Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella. Internal notes show Nadella endorsed moving sensitive “workloads” to Azure, although the company maintains he was unaware the data comprised civilian phone calls. Microsoft says its engagement with Unit 8200 focused on cybersecurity and that it has “no information” about surveillance of civilians or use of Azure to identify lethal targets. Revelations of the programme add to scrutiny of Microsoft’s defence contracts. Employees and investors have pressed the firm over its role in Israel’s military operations, culminating in protests at company events earlier this year. Microsoft commissioned an external review that found no evidence its technology had been used to harm civilians—an assessment now challenged by the leaked files.