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US Private Security Contractors to Oversee 2nd Phase of Ceasefire in Gaza

People walk next to a sign congratulating US President Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election in central Jerusalem. (AFP)
People walk next to a sign congratulating US President Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election in central Jerusalem. (AFP)
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US Private Security Contractors to Oversee 2nd Phase of Ceasefire in Gaza

People walk next to a sign congratulating US President Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election in central Jerusalem. (AFP)
People walk next to a sign congratulating US President Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election in central Jerusalem. (AFP)

The administration of US President Donald Trump has hired private US security contractors to inspect Palestinian vehicles that move from southern to northern Gaza and to ensure no rockets or other heavy weapons are being transferred past the Netzarim Corridor.

Two officials familiar with the matter told The New York Times that one of the firms assigned to the corridor is Safe Reach Solutions, which conducts logistics and planning. The company will oversee operational management of the crossings.

The second company is UG Solutions — a US private security company that operates armed guards around the world. Some of the guards are Americans who served in US military special forces, a source familiar with the issue said.

A third Egyptian security company, which has been approved by the Egyptian intelligence service, will also deploy security guards to Gaza.

The US companies will operate in Gaza as part of a multinational consortium that has been established under the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal and negotiated to solve a key sticking point around the movement of displaced Palestinians back to northern Gaza.

Hamas had refused that Israel handle the inspection operation.

The New York Times said under the deal, the private contractors are set to begin checking Gazan vehicles heading north as soon as Saturday, when Hamas is set to release four additional hostages.

According to officials, the companies will remain two to six weeks in the Gaza Strip. It is not yet clear who will fund the contractors’ deployment.

Israel hopes that the private security contractors will eventually form the nucleus of a larger international force that will run Gaza in the future, two of the officials told The Times.

Witkoff visits region

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Saudi Arabia next week and will then head to Israel.

Witkoff’s trip to Israel is expected to focus on negotiating the second phase of the hostage release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the first stage of which took effect on Sunday, several sources said.

“I’m actually going to be going over to Israel. I’m going to be part of an inspection team at the Netzarim Corridor, and also at the Philadelphi Corridor,” Witkoff said Wednesday in an interview with Fox News.

“That’s where you have outside overseers, sort of making sure that people are safe and people who are entering are not armed and no one has bad motivations,” Witkoff added.

The first stage of the ceasefire is meant to last six weeks. By day 16 - Feb. 4 - Israel and Hamas are due to start negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire, whose stated aim is to end the war.

A third phase is expected to start Gaza's reconstruction, overseen by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.

Gaza rule

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser said on Friday that the US has assured Israel that if Hamas runs afoul of a Gaza ceasefire deal, “we will be with them.”

Michael Waltz told CNN that the Trump administration will support Israel as it is “going to do what it has to do” to ensure Hamas never rules the Palestinian territory again.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held his first call with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, a day after his call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The State Department's statement following the call was similar to the statement issued following Rubio and Netanyahu’s call. The US diplomat stressed the need to continue the flow of aid into Gaza.

He also commended the foreign minister on Israel’s successes against Hamas and Hezbollah and the ongoing efforts to implement the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

Rubio then conveyed the mutual understanding that the pursuit of peace in the region requires addressing the threats posed by Iran.

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Arab World

Iraq’s ‘Heist of the Century’ Returns to Spotlight with $5 Billion Figure

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announces the recovery of funds linked to the “Heist of the Century” scandal. (AFP)
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announces the recovery of funds linked to the “Heist of the Century” scandal. (AFP)
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Iraq’s ‘Heist of the Century’ Returns to Spotlight with $5 Billion Figure

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announces the recovery of funds linked to the “Heist of the Century” scandal. (AFP)
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announces the recovery of funds linked to the “Heist of the Century” scandal. (AFP)

Iraq’s massive tax embezzlement scandal - widely known as the “Heist of the Century” - has resurfaced with a dramatically higher estimated value of 8 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $5 billion), nearly double the amount originally announced when the scandal first erupted in October 2022.

The new figure was disclosed Tuesday by Talib al-Baidhani, a member of parliament’s Integrity Committee, who also revealed that about 30 additional individuals are now suspected of involvement in the case.

The latest development comes just days after parliament approved a new government led by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman with no political background who has pledged to strengthen the economy and fight corruption - promises repeated by successive Iraqi governments since 2003.

The scandal dates back roughly four years and centers on the theft of tax deposit funds through five shell companies allegedly working with officials from the General Commission for Taxes and Rafidain Bank, as well as senior state officials, lawmakers, contractors, and brokers.

Speaking to Iraq’s state newspaper, al-Baidhani said parliament’s Integrity Committee is determined to recover Iraqi stolen funds and continue pursuing the case in coordination with the Federal Integrity Commission.

The scandal first became public on October 18, 2022, when former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi confirmed an investigation into the theft of tax trust funds and accused some parties of exploiting the case to shield corrupt figures.

Two months later, former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced the recovery of more than 300 billion dinars, an amount critics described as negligible compared with the scale of the theft. Sudani promised the rest would be recovered, but his government later failed to do so.

Al-Baidhani, who belongs to the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, said some funds have already been recovered, while large sums remain outside Iraq and require coordinated efforts between parliament and al-Zaidi’s government to retrieve them.
He described the recovery effort as “the real beginning” of holding all those involved accountable for stolen public funds and suspicious deals.

Al-Baidhani added that the scandal was initially estimated at around 2.5 trillion dinars, but subsequent investigations by the Federal Integrity Commission uncovered much larger embezzlement operations, pushing the total to nearly 8 trillion dinars. He did not explain when or how those investigations were conducted.

In late October 2022, Iraqi authorities arrested the case’s main suspect, Nour Zuhair, chairman of one of the companies implicated in the scheme. He was later released on bail after Sudani announced the recovery of 5 percent of the stolen funds in exchange for Zuhair’s pledge to return the remaining money within days.

Shortly after his release, however, Zuhair fled Iraq and has remained missing ever since.

For years, Iraqi courts have continued issuing prison sentences against individuals linked to the tax theft, but without recovering the missing funds or apprehending the key suspects. The failure has fueled public criticism and accusations that the case is being used for political blackmail while influential political actors implicated “behind the scenes” remain protected.

Separately, al-Baidhani urged Iraq’s Foreign Ministry to recover properties tied to Saddam Hussein’s former regime through coordination with countries that have treaties with Iraq.

After Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003, several Western governments froze Iraqi assets linked to the former regime and Hussein’s family under UN Security Council Resolution 1483, including bank accounts, real estate, and investments in countries such as France and Switzerland.

Arab World

Lebanon Limits Security Delegation’s Role to ‘Technical’ Talks with Israel

Lebanese Army troops deployed in central Beirut last week. (EPA)
Lebanese Army troops deployed in central Beirut last week. (EPA)
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Lebanon Limits Security Delegation’s Role to ‘Technical’ Talks with Israel

Lebanese Army troops deployed in central Beirut last week. (EPA)
Lebanese Army troops deployed in central Beirut last week. (EPA)

Hezbollah threatened on Tuesday to attack any armed force that coordinates with Israel if such a force were ever created. The warning came ahead of a planned security meeting between Lebanese and Israeli military representatives in Washington on May 29, even though Lebanese officials insist that no proposal to establish such a force exists.

According to official Lebanese sources speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the upcoming meeting will focus strictly on technical and logistical matters between representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli armies under US sponsorship and mediation.

Still, MP Hassan Fadlallah, a member of the party’s parliamentary bloc, issued a sharp warning against what he described as “American-Israeli talk” of creating a proxy armed force similar to the “Free Lebanon Army” established in 1978 and the “South Lebanon Army” formed in 1984, both of which collaborated with Israel.

Fadlallah said Hezbollah would confront any such force “as we confront the enemy.” At the same time, he praised the relationship between Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army, describing it as “excellent.”

Lebanese sources dismissed the MP’s remarks as reactions to “speculative media reports about the upcoming talks”.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources said the idea of creating a pro-Israel Lebanese force “has never been discussed” in negotiations in Washington and has not been raised by any international envoy visiting Lebanon.

They added that the Lebanese Army categorically rejects any proposal to establish an independent force, an idea that had also circulated in local media reports.

Trilateral committee and expanded UN monitoring

The May 29 meeting is expected to focus on two proposals. The first involves establishing a trilateral committee made up of representatives from the Lebanese Army, the Israeli military, and the US Army. It would monitor ceasefire violations, oversee the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and coordinate the deployment of the Lebanese Army in those areas.

The talks are also expected to address expanding the role of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the UN’s first-ever peacekeeping mission, founded in May 1948 to monitor ceasefire agreements between Israel and neighboring states, including Lebanon. UNTSO observers are limited to monitoring and reporting duties rather than combat operations.

The sources said one proposal under discussion is to strengthen the observer mission by increasing the number of personnel and expanding its operations.

Unlike the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is expected to fully withdraw from Lebanon later this year, the UNTSO maintains only a small presence in Lebanon. Its observers, numbering only in the dozens, operate within the “Observer Group Lebanon” along the Blue Line to monitor the truce agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

Strictly military and technical files

The sources emphasized that the May 29 meeting will remain strictly technical and military in nature. Diplomatic negotiators, including Lebanon’s chief negotiator Ambassador Simon Karam and Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, are not expected to participate directly in the military discussions.

The agenda is likely to center on the ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, and mechanisms for deploying the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon.

The sources stressed that the meeting will not address Hezbollah’s weapons or any cooperation regarding its disarmament, saying those matters fall under the authority of the diplomatic negotiating team.

Hezbollah criticizes Lebanese leadership

Despite those assurances, Hezbollah continued to criticize the political and diplomatic approach pursued by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to resolve the crisis. Relations between the party and Aoun remain strained.

Although Hezbollah appointed MP Fadlallah to coordinate with the presidency, Lebanese sources said he has neither met nor spoken with Aoun. The party has effectively suspended dialogue with the president, even though the presidential palace remains open, said the sources.

During a press conference in parliament, Fadlallah accused the government of breaking its commitment not to enter negotiations before a ceasefire was secured.

He questioned “how anyone can sit at a table with those continuing their crimes while Israel boasts of support from its allies in pursuing a destructive project.”

Fadlallah insisted that Lebanon’s only viable option is continued “resistance combined with indirect diplomacy backed by national unity and strength,” arguing that “no political alternative could compel Israel to halt the war and withdraw from Lebanese territory.”

In contrast, the Lebanese Kataeb Party called for broad national support for the negotiations in Washington, saying the process aims to consolidate the ceasefire, secure an Israeli withdrawal, end hostilities, free detainees, and allow displaced residents to return home.

The party accused Hezbollah of trying to keep Lebanon “a card in Iran’s hands” at the expense of South Lebanon and its residents.

Arab World

UN Considers Response to Israeli Move to Build a Military Compound on Site of Relief Agency

The front gate of the east Jerusalem compound of UNRWA is seen in east Jerusalem, May 10, 2024. (AP)
The front gate of the east Jerusalem compound of UNRWA is seen in east Jerusalem, May 10, 2024. (AP)
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UN Considers Response to Israeli Move to Build a Military Compound on Site of Relief Agency

The front gate of the east Jerusalem compound of UNRWA is seen in east Jerusalem, May 10, 2024. (AP)
The front gate of the east Jerusalem compound of UNRWA is seen in east Jerusalem, May 10, 2024. (AP)

The United Nations is considering how to respond to Israel's announcement that it will build a military complex on the former headquarters of the UN relief agency for Palestinians in east Jerusalem, an official said Tuesday.

Israel at the weekend announced the government's approval for a defense ministry complex at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency ’s compound in Sheikh Jarrah, including a museum and enlistment office.

“The matter is currently under consideration at the level of the legal council, the highest legal authority of the United Nations in New York,” UNRWA Deputy Commissioner General Natalie Boucly told The Associated Press during a visit to Syria.

“These are UN premises and, at a minimum, this is a breach of the 1946 UN Convention on privileges and immunities,” she said.

Israel bulldozed part of the UNRWA compound in January, capping off a decades-long campaign against the agency, which became acute following the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel has accused the UN agency of harboring staff members affiliated with Hamas, accusing some of taking part in the attacks. UNRWA leaders have said they took swift action against the employees accused of taking part in the 2023 attacks, and have denied allegations that the agency tolerates or collaborates with Hamas.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said the plan to build a defense complex on the former UNRWA headquarters was “a decision of sovereignty, Zionism and security.”

“In a place where an organization that became part of the terror and incitement mechanism against Israel operated, institutions will be established that will strengthen Jerusalem, the (Israeli army), and the State of Israel,” Katz said in a statement on Sunday.

The decision came on Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers the entire city of Jerusalem its capital, while the Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state.

The UNRWA compound was shut down in May 2025 after far-right protesters, including at least one member of parliament, overran its gate in view of the police.

UNRWA’s mandate is to provide aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Its operations were curtailed last year when Israel’s Knesset passed legislation severing ties and banning it from functioning in what it defines as Israel — including east Jerusalem.

Boucly said the humanitarian situation in Gaza “remains absolutely dire.” While UNRWA international staff have been barred by Israel from entering Gaza, about 10,000 local staff continue to work in the enclave, including teachers, health workers and sanitation workers, she said.

Despite a tenuous ceasefire, “there are issues with insufficient aid coming in,” she said. “It is not coming in at scale and reconstruction is not starting fast enough for the people to see a real change on the ground.”

Boucly spoke to the AP from Syria's Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, where the situation is somewhat more hopeful as former residents who fled during the country's 14-year civil war have been gradually returning.

Taken over by a series of armed groups then bombarded by the military of then President Bashar al-Assad, the camp was all but abandoned after 2018. The buildings that were not destroyed by bombs were demolished by the government or stripped by thieves.

After Assad's ouster in 2024, former residents began to trickle back and repair their damaged homes. As of April, some 60,000 people had returned to the camp, of which 80% are Palestinian refugees, Boucly said.

Assistance to those returning to the camp has been limited, she acknowledged. UNRWA has received donor aid to rehabilitate schools and health centers, but has been unable to provide more than minor assistance to people needing to repair their damaged homes, she said.

Despite anxieties about shrinking funding, she said, “I think there is a situation of hope for Palestine refugees” in Syria.