U.S. security contractors will go to Gaza to monitor Truce, officials said.

US security contractors have enlisted to help displaced Palestinians return to the devastated northern Gaza Strip, the next step in a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, four officials familiar with the matter said.

The officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said the contractors were ready to help secure the key zone that bisects Gaza and is known as the Netzarim Corridor. The officials said the contractors were scheduled to check vehicles transporting Palestinians from the southern region with weapons.

Early in the war, the Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of northern Gaza, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee south. For months, Israeli troops have been controlling part of the Netzarim Corridor to prevent Palestinians from returning to the north.

But now in its fifth day under a 42-day ceasefire, Israeli troops are set to partially withdraw by the end of the week and allow Gazans to head north. The truce, which began on Sunday, was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will not allow armed fighters to return to northern Gaza for months. Mediators tried to broker a compromise between Israel’s security demands and Hamas’ conditions for Israel’s withdrawal.

Gazans on foot will be allowed to turn back without investigation, according to a copy of a cease-fire statement shared with The New York Times. According to the agreement, the private contractors are to start inspecting Gazan vehicles heading north as soon as Saturday.

But it was unclear when the strategy would be implemented, and two of the officials said it could take up to two weeks.

One of the firms assigned to the corridor is Safe Reach Solutions, which handles logistics and planning, said a company spokesperson, who asked not to be named to discuss sensitive operations. It was not clear what role the company and others would play in overseeing the inspection, whether it would fund the deployment.

In the year The company’s website, which was registered in 2024 and appears to have been created in 2025, contains almost no specific information on the company’s activities, funding and staff members. The company appears to have social media accounts on Instagram and Threads, but both are empty of content.

US officials have not visited the Gaza Strip in years; Both the state’s main rulers, due to security concerns and an official policy of non-alignment with Hamas.

Many of Gaza’s more than one million evacuees have crowded into an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in al-Mawasi on the southern coast. Most live in tented camps where access to adequate food, clean water and protection from the elements is a daily struggle.

For months, they had hoped to return to their homes in the north – although it was unclear how many homes were still standing following Israel’s relentless campaign against Hamas.

Bilal Quheil, a resident of Gaza City, said his house was destroyed at the beginning of the war: “At least I can put up a tent in the rubble.”

Israel hopes that private security contractors will form the core of a larger international force to govern Gaza in the future, backed by Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of the officials said. They added that the Emirates and Saudis are not currently involved in the matter.

But following the ceasefire, On October 7, 2023, Hamas, which launched the war against Israel, asserted itself, showing its fighters in force on the streets of Gaza. Despite the 15-month war in Gaza that has killed more than 45,000 people, the images have dimmed Israel’s hopes of ousting the militant group, Gaza health officials said.

Eric Toler And Riley Mellen Contribution reporting.