The Israeli army has been using Microsoft and Google's artificial intelligence (AI) tools and cloud services from Amazon for military operations for its genocide in Gaza, Israeli news outlets +972 Magazine and Local Call reported, which was confirmed by the Israeli Army's Center of Computers and Information Systems last month.

This information was publicly confirmed for the first time through Israeli media's attainment of an audio recording of Col. Racheli Dembinsky, commander of the Center of Computing and Information Systems Unit, revealing the use of these technological services from these civilian tech firms during a presentation attended by 100 military and industrial personnel on July 10.

During Dembinsky's presentation, logos of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure appeared twice in her lecture slides, ultimately disclosing the occupation army's "operational cloud" which is usually stored on internal military servers. The Israeli commander described the cloud as a "weapon platform." 

The internal cloud used by the occupation consists of applications that enable marking bombing targets, viewing live drone footage of Gaza's sky through a portal, and fire, command, and control systems. 

“The internal military systems quickly became overloaded due to the enormous number of soldiers and military personnel who were added to the platform as users, causing technical problems that threatened to slow down Israel’s military functions,” +972 Magazine reported, citing Dembinsky referring to the start of the occupation's daily assault on Gaza in October 2023.

'Very significant operational effectiveness'

Dembinsky highlighted the advantages the Israeli army obtained from its partnership with these major tech companies, describing a “very significant operational effectiveness" when it comes to the occupation's ongoing genocide in Gaza, especially due to advanced AI capabilities and unlimited storage offered without the need to physically store servers in military computer centers.

+972 Magazine and Local Call reported sources from the Israeli army disclosing that classified information and attack systems in the internal clouds are not stored in the tech giants's public cloud systems. However, according to a detailed investigation by Israeli news outlets, some of the army's mass surveillance and intelligence on Gaza's population are stored on servers overseen by AWS.

The probe also revealed that certain undisclosed cloud providers have supplied numerous AI capabilities and services to the occupation forces since October 7. 

Unlimited storage capabilities and additional cloud service purchases

The research made by +972 Magazine and Local Call is composed of sources from the Israeli Security Ministry, the Israeli arms industry, three cloud storage companies, and seven occupation intelligence officers.

Some sources reported that the army makes use of private-sector resources to enhance its technological capacity in its assault on Gaza, while three intelligence sources labeled the army's partnership with Amazon as "particularly close", due to the firm's provision of farm servers for the Military Intelligence Directorate to store large-scale intelligence. Additionally, Amazon supplies the army with "endless storage" to store intelligence on almost "everyone" in the Strip.

The surveillance of Gazans could not be solely stored on the military's servers, some sources concerning the collection of intelligence, adding this phenomenon compels the army to use third-party cloud services from tech companies. Essentially, the vast information stored in the AWS servers has assisted the occupation forces in conducting aerial assassination strikes in Gaza. 

The Israeli military has significantly enhanced its procurement of Google Cloud, Amazon's AWS, and Microsoft Azure services, with the majority of purchases involving the first two companies conducted under the Nimbus contract, several security sources told +972 Magazine and Local Call. 

Google expands partnership with 'Israel' during genocidal war on Gaza

Google negotiated with the Israeli occupation to deepen their partnership during the brutal war on Gaza, which has entered its seventh month recently with over 39,000 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children, a Google document viewed by the TIME news site revealed in April.

The tech giant has provided cloud computing services for the entity for years.

This report comes shortly after it was exposed that the Israeli military's airstrikes against individuals in Gaza utilized a previously undisclosed AI-powered database, dubbed Lavender, while forces operating the technology were authorized to kill 15 to 20 civilians during airstrikes allegedly targeting Resistance fighters.

The document indicates that the Israeli Ministry of Security has a designated "landing zone" within Google Cloud. This secure access point provides the Ministry with the ability to store and process data, as well as access AI services offered by the firm.

The Ministry requested consulting help from Google to broaden its access to Google Cloud, aiming to enable "multiple units" to utilize automation technologies. A draft contract dated March 27, 2024, indicates that Google billed the Israeli Ministry more than $1 million for this consulting service.

The contract seen by TIME had not been signed by either side. However, a Google employee's comment on the document dated March 27, requesting a signed copy of the contract, mentioned that the signatures would be "completed offline as it’s an Israel/Nimbus deal." The document also states that Google gave the Ministry a 15% discount on the initial consulting fee as part of the "Nimbus framework".

Project Nimbus is a contentious $1.2 billion cloud computing and AI deal involving the Israeli government and two tech giants, Google and Amazon.

According to reports, the terms of the contract prevent Google and Amazon from restricting specific government entities, including the Israeli military, from accessing their services and prohibit contract termination due to public pressure. However, TIME said that this is the first instance where a contract revealing the Israeli Security Ministry as a customer of Google Cloud has been disclosed publicly.

Google recently claimed that its work for the Israeli government is largely for "civilian purposes".

“We have been very clear that the Nimbus contract is for workloads running on our commercial platform by Israeli government ministries such as finance, healthcare, transportation, and education,” a Google spokesperson told TIME. “Our work is not directed at highly sensitive or classified military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.”