US security contractors going to Gaza to police truce, officials say
Safe Reach Solutions will oversee operational management of the crossings, said a second person familiar with its operations, while two other firms — one American, one Egyptian — will handle the actual inspections. It is not yet clear who will fund the contractors’ deployment.
The company’s website, which appears to have been registered in 2024 and created in 2025, contains almost no specific information on the organisation’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.
Palestinians walk through the destruction following an Israeli air and ground offensive in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.Credit: AP
US officials have not visited the Gaza Strip for years, both because of security concerns and the official no-contact policy with Hamas, the enclave’s de facto rulers.
Israel hopes that the private security contractors will eventually form the nucleus of a larger international force, backed by Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, that will run Gaza in the future, two of the officials said. The Saudis and the Emiratis are not currently involved, they added.
But following the ceasefire, Hamas, which led the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that set off the war, has reasserted itself, sending its fighters to parade through the streets of Gaza in a show of strength.
The images have dampened Israel’s hopes of toppling the militant group, despite 15 months of war in Gaza that killed more than 45,000 people, according to health officials in Gaza.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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