Microsoft said it has begun an urgent external investigation after a report in the Guardian alleged that Israel’s military intelligence Unit 8200 used the company’s Azure cloud to store and analyse millions of intercepted Palestinian phone calls. The newspaper said the recordings may have been used to help select bombing targets in Gaza. In a statement, the Redmond, Washington–based company acknowledged the article “raises additional and specific allegations that merit a thorough and urgent review.” Microsoft added that its standard service terms prohibit mass surveillance and require customers to maintain human oversight and access controls. Results of the probe will be made public once it is completed, the company said. The move follows an internal audit Microsoft conducted in May, which concluded it had found no evidence that its technology had been used to harm civilians in Gaza. Employee activists have since pressed the company to sever contracts with the Israeli military, arguing that Azure and related AI tools are being deployed for large-scale surveillance of Palestinians.