US security contractor will take charge of key checkpoint in Gaza as Israeli forces withdraw

(CNN) — A private American security company will take over a key checkpoint on the road to northern Gaza in the coming days as Israeli forces withdraw from the area on Saturday, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

Armed personnel from an American security contractor will man the checkpoint and will be responsible for inspecting vehicles entering northern Gaza. Palestinians returning to northern Gaza on foot will not be inspected, according to the terms of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli forces are set to complete their withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza on Saturday, which will allow displaced residents of northern Gaza to return to their homes – or what remains of them.

Named after the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, the corridor was constructed by Israeli forces to create a strategic, central road intersecting the strip.

Israeli media have reported that a security contractor named UG Solutions will deploy personnel to the checkpoint. Another American firm, Safe Reach Solutions, is reportedly involved in the planning and logistics for the checkpoint.

Neither firm has an extensive online footprint. On its website, Safe Reach Solutions says it provides “planning, logistics, and strategic expertise to organizations operating in the world’s most complex environments.”

Israel has long mulled various plans to deploy private American contractors to safeguard aid shipments in Gaza or to establish humanitarian zones that have been fully cleared of Hamas militants.

None of those plans has ever come to fruition, but the contractor-manned checkpoint could be a key test of the viability of deploying private contractors in Gaza.

Israeli troops are withdrawing from the corridor in central Gaza after a ceasefire-hostage agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas last week.

The three-phase deal has raised cautious hopes for an end to the war. The first phase will last for six weeks and will see the staggered release of 33 Israeli hostages. In return, Israel is expected to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

During the first 42-day phase, Israel is due to withdraw from population centers but will retain a presence along Gaza’s borders and on a road dividing the territory.

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