Corporate Gains from the Gaza Catastrophe: Which Multinational Firms Profit from the Bloodshed in Gaza?
In a recent interview, guests discussed a landmark report by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, which identified Microsoft, Amazon, and Google as major U.S. tech firms complicit in profiting from Israel's actions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
**Key Developments and Allegations**
The report, released in July 2025, accused over 60 companies, including these tech giants, of being complicit in what Albanese describes as the “transformation of Israel’s economy of occupation to an economy of genocide.” The report specifically names Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, among others, and calls for companies and their executives to be held accountable for enabling and profiting from activities linked to occupation, apartheid, and alleged genocide in the Palestinian territories.
Companies like Amazon and Google are involved in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract to provide cloud and AI services to the Israeli government and military. These technologies are alleged to support large-scale data storage, surveillance, and automation that reportedly aid in military operations targeting Palestinians. Microsoft is also criticized for supplying Azure cloud and AI services to the Israeli military, which protesters claim contribute to human rights abuses in Gaza.
**Corporate and Government Responses**
Microsoft has publicly denied that its technologies are used for harmful targeting in Gaza, citing internal reviews. However, this has not satisfied protesters or human rights advocates, who argue that even providing infrastructure that enables surveillance and military operations is problematic.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that there is a plausible case that Israel’s actions could meet the legal definition of genocide, though Israel strongly rejects this characterization. The allegations have led to increased scrutiny of tech companies’ operations and contracts in the region.
**Summary Table**
| Company | Allegations/Activities | Response/Protests | |------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------| | Microsoft | Provides Azure cloud and AI to Israeli military| Internal reviews; protests by employees | | Amazon | Project Nimbus: cloud and AI for government | Targeted by activists; criticized in UN | | Google | Project Nimbus: AI/automation for military | Reneged on AI use policy; UN criticism |
**Conclusion**
As the interview guests discussed, the UN report has brought significant attention to the role of major tech companies in the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territories. The companies are under growing pressure from the UN, human rights organizations, and their own employees to reassess their relationships with Israel, particularly regarding technologies that may support actions in the occupied territories. It remains to be seen if consumers around the world will bring commercial pressure on the implicated firms, or if big companies will question their ties with Israel due to their financial interests.
- The heightened scrutiny of tech companies' operations in the Palestinian territories, following the UN report, has opened up a discussion about the potential impact of consumers' decisions on these companies' financial interests.
- In response to allegations of complicity in human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, Microsoft has maintained that its technologies are not used for harmful targeting, but this stance has been met with protests from both human rights advocates and its own employees.
- The UN report has not only highlighted the involvement of tech companies like Amazon and Google in projects that provide cloud and AI services to Israel's government and military, but also the potential role of politics and finance in influencing these companies' decisions, given the lucrative nature of such contracts.
