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DUBAI: Microsoft has terminated the Israeli military’s access to technology it used for the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The tech firm informed Israeli authorities it would “cease and disable specified IMOD (Israel Ministry of Defense) subscriptions and their services, including their use of specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies,” Brad Smith, the vice-chair and president of Microsoft said in a company memo and blog post on Thursday.

Cybersecurity services provided by the company to Israel and other countries in the Middle East are not affected, he added.

The decision follows the preliminary findings of a formal review launched by Microsoft last month in response to a report by The Guardian newspaper on an investigation it carried out in partnership with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language news site Local Call.

The joint investigation found Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, used Microsoft Azure cloud services to store recordings of millions of cellphone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank since 2022.

The intelligence obtained from the call data stored in Azure was reportedly used by Unit 8200 to identify targets for military bombing campaigns. When planning airstrikes in densely populated areas containing many civilians, intelligence officers would analyze calls from Palestinians located nearby, sources said. They described the system as indiscriminate and intrusive, labeling it a tool that had turned an entire population into the “enemy.”

During development of the system, Microsoft and Unit 8200 engineers collaborated to implement advanced security measures in Azure that met the standards required by the Israeli agency. The project was highly secretive, and Microsoft staff were instructed not to make any mention of Unit 8200.

To protect the privacy rights of cellphone users, the Microsoft review did not access the IMOD data but instead focused on the company’s own business records, including internal documents and email communications, Smith said.

“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” he added. “We have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades.”

LONDON: Four major international news agencies have released a film that urges Israel to allow foreign journalists into Gaza.

The short film from the BBC, AFP, Reuters and AP, times to coincide with the UN General Assembly taking place in New York, features historic journalistic footage from conflicts such as World War II, Vietnam, Tiananmen Square, the Rwandan genocide, the Syrian refugee crisis and the war in Ukraine.

“History is told by those who report it,” it begins, narrated by BBC journalist David Dimbleby.

“The report of a child’s body washed up on a beach revealed the stark reality of the Syrian refugee crisis; in Ukraine, journalists from around the world risk their lives every day to report the suffering of the people,” he said, over a slideshow of wartime images.

“But when it comes to Gaza, the job of reporting falls solely to Palestinian journalists who are paying a terrible cost, leaving fewer to bear witness.”

The BBC, in association with Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, and Reuters, has launched a short film calling on the Israeli authorities to allow international journalists access to Gaza.

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— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress)

The BBC said in a statement on Thursday that the film aims “to highlight the importance of independent journalism throughout key moments in recent history.”

Deborah Turness, CEO of BBC News, said: “As journalists, we record the first draft of history. But in this conflict, reporting is falling solely to a small number of Palestinian journalists, who are paying a terrible cost.”

Foreign journalists have been barred from entering the enclave since the onset of Israel’s war in Gaza, which followed the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Only a select few have been escorted in under tight military control, sparking accusations of censorship and a lack of transparency.

Israel has cited security concerns for the restrictions. In a statement last year, the Israel Defense Forces claimed journalists were accompanied “to ensure safety” in battlefield areas.

Media watchdogs and human rights groups have described the Gaza conflict as the deadliest for journalists.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, at least 248 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the war began. The Israeli government denies they are deliberately targeted.

“We must now be let into Gaza. To work alongside local journalists, so we can all bring the facts to the world,” Turness said.

The new film premiered in New York on Wednesday night during an event hosted by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Israel is facing mounting international pressure to end the war on Gaza after a wave of Western countries formally recognized the State of Palestine this week amid renewed backing for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.

The war has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, according to local authorities, and triggered a catastrophic humanitarian crisis marked by famine and widespread displacement.

In response to the diplomatic shift, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state and threatened to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, defying growing global calls for a negotiated solution.

In previous months, the four media outlets had issued joint statements expressing concern over the humanitarian conditions faced by journalists in Gaza, including hunger, displacement and the risk of death.

In August, 27 countries, including the UK, issued a joint statement urging Israel to allow immediate foreign media access to Gaza and condemning attacks on journalists.