Israeli soldiers remove the Israeli flag from the Netzarim axis. Photo: Palestine Chronicle.
The consortium is made up of three private companies that were selected by the US, Egypt and Qatar, according to Axios.
Private US security contractors will oversee a key checkpoint at Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor in the coming days and deploy armed guards to the enclave, Axios has reported.
The security companies will operate in Gaza “as part of a multinational consortium” that has been established under the ceasefire deal “with the backing of its brokers: the U.S., Egypt and Qatar,” according to the report on Thursday that cites two Israeli officials and a source with direct knowledge.
“The role of the U.S. contractors will be to inspect Palestinian vehicles that move from southern Gaza to northern Gaza and make sure no rockets or other heavy weapons are being transferred,” it added.
Military Zone
The seven-kilometer-wide Netzarim corridor, located just south of Gaza City, separates northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged enclave. Nearly every building in the area was completely demolished by the Israeli army and all Palestinians were displaced before it was turned into a military zone during Israel’s 15-month-long onslaught on the Strip.
In December, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli army officers revealed that an area along the Netzarim corridor at that time was a designated “kill zone” where “anyone who enters is shot.”
‘Key Sticking Point’
The multinational consortium, according to Axios, was negotiated to “solve a key sticking point around the movement of displaced Palestinians back to northern Gaza.”
Israel had demanded that all Palestinians who return to the north go through security checks at the Netzarim corridor, the report stated. However, “Hamas refused.”
“The compromise was that vehicles would be able to go to northern Gaza only through one road and would have to be inspected at a checkpoint on the Netzarim corridor operated by a third party,” reported Axios.
A source familiar with the issue told Axios that “The consortium’s role is to oversee, manage, and secure a critical vehicle checkpoint along Salah al-Din Road, facilitating the safe return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.”
“The consortium aims to ensure orderly vehicle movement while preventing the transport of weapons northward, in line with the ceasefire terms,” the source added.
Hamas Statement
Hamas said in a statement on Thursday that on the seventh day of the truce (January 25) “after the end of the prisoner exchange process that day, and the occupation completes its withdrawal from the Rashid Street “Al-Bahr” axis; internally displaced pedestrians will be allowed to return north without carrying weapons and without inspection via Rashid Street, with freedom of movement between the south and north of the Gaza Strip.”
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“Vehicles (of all types) will be allowed to return north of the Netzarim axis after inspecting the vehicles,” the statement added.
As for the 22nd day of the agreement, the statement continued, “internally displaced pedestrians will be allowed to return north from Salah Al-Din Street without inspection.”
US and Egyptian Companies
The consortium is made up of three private companies that were selected by the US, Egypt and Qatar, according to Axios.
It identified the American companies as Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), “a strategic planning and logistics company” and UG Solutions, a security company that “operates armed guards around the world.”
Some of the guards “are Americans who served in U.S. military special forces and others have various foreign nationalities,” a source told Axios.
The third company is an Egyptian security company “which has been approved by the Egyptian intelligence service,” the report noted, citing a senior Israeli official. The company will also deploy security guards to the enclave.
According to the Axios report, US contractors were expected to operate in Gaza until the end of the first phase of the captive exchange deal “whether as a result of an agreement on the second phase of the deal that includes a full Israeli pullout from Gaza or as a result of a break down in the negotiations and renewed fighting.”
The report also noted that it would be the first time “in decades” that private American security companies will operate in Gaza.
