U.S. security contractors are joining forces to help displaced Palestinians return to the devastated northern Gaza Strip, the next step in a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, according to four officials familiar with the matter. It is said that they are doing so.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the contractors were ready to help split Gaza in half and secure a key zone known as the Netzarim Corridor. Officials said the contractor’s purpose was to inspect vehicles transporting Palestinians from the southern part of the enclave to carry weapons.
Early in the war, the Israeli military ordered a mass evacuation from northern Gaza, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee south. Israeli forces have been patrolling the Netzarim Corridor for months, in part to prevent Palestinians from returning north.
But under the terms of the 42-day ceasefire, now in its fifth day, Israeli forces are expected to partially withdraw over the weekend and allow Gazans to head north. The ceasefire agreement took effect on Sunday and was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said for months that Israel will not allow armed fighters to return to northern Gaza. The mediators tried to find a compromise between Israel’s security demands and Hamas’ terms of withdrawal from Israel.
Gazans traveling on foot will be able to return home without testing, according to a copy of the cease-fire agreement’s appendix shared with The New York Times. Under the agreement, private contractors are scheduled to begin inspecting Gaza vehicles heading north as early as Saturday.
However, it is not entirely clear when this mechanism will take effect, and two officials said it could take several weeks.
One of the companies assigned to the corridor is logistics and planning company Safe Reach Solutions, said a company spokesperson who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive work.
Safe Reach Solutions will oversee the operation and management of the crossing, while two other companies, one American and one Egyptian, will handle the actual inspections, said another person familiar with the company’s operations. It is not yet clear who will fund the contractor’s deployment.
The company’s website, which appears to have been registered in 2024 and created in 2025, contains little specific information about the organization’s activities, funding, or staff members. The company also appears to have social media accounts on Instagram and Threads, but both are empty of content.
U.S. officials have not visited the Gaza Strip in years, citing both security concerns and an official no-contact policy with Hamas, the enclave’s de facto ruler.
Many of Gaza’s well over 1 million displaced people are packed into an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” along the southern coast of Al Mawashi. Most of the people living there live in squalid tent camps, and finding enough food, clean water, and protection from the elements is a daily struggle.
They had been hoping to return to their homes in the north for months, but it is not entirely clear how many of them still remain due to Israel’s relentless campaign against Hamas.
“At least we will set up tents among the rubble,” said Bilal Kuhail, a Gaza City resident. He said his home was destroyed early in the war.
Israel hopes private security contractors will eventually become the core of a larger international force to run Gaza in the future, with support from Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two officials said. spoke. The Emirates and Saudi Arabia are not currently involved, they added.
But after the ceasefire, Hamas, which led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war, reasserted itself and paraded its fighters through Gaza’s streets in a show of strength. Gaza health officials say the images have put a damper on Israel’s hopes of defeating the militants, even though more than 45,000 people have been killed in the 15-month war there.
Arik Toller and Riley Mellen Contributed to the report.
