The shooting may have stopped for now — but the armed U.S. military veterans who once patrolled aid distribution sites in Gaza say they are ready and willing to return to work.

Amid ongoing uncertainty about the future of a controversial, Israel-approved aid distribution scheme, on Monday one of its lead contractors said it will keep working in the region.

The statement from UG Solutions hints at a continued presence for U.S. private military contractors in Gaza, despite pushback from Palestinian political parties and the international aid community.

The firm’s employees, many of them U.S. special forces veterans, have provided security at four aid distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since May. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed along the routes to the foundation’s aid sites under Israel Defense Forces gunfire, according to the United Nations.

“The situation in Gaza may be tenuous for the short to mid-term as the remnants of Hamas and clans vie for control of neighborhoods, cities, and the Gaza Strip as a whole,” a company spokesperson wrote in a statement released Monday. “UG stands ready to continue its work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or any other international organizations or local nongovernmental organizations that believe that an increased security posture would better protect their staff, aid supplies, and logistics lines.” 

Critics said that in addition to violating humanitarian principles by deployed armed guards, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation served as a tool of Israeli policy by forcing Palestinians to make mileslong treks to southern Gaza.

As the foundation began distributing food at four sites, hundreds of U.N. sites were kept shuttered. Dozens of aid organizations decried the situation in a July statement, where they said that Palestinians faced “an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families.”

“The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel’s blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favour of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs,” the groups said.

UG Solutions, in particular, fell under intense scrutiny when The Intercept and other outlets reported on the background of some of its private military contractors in the Infidels Motorcycle Club.

Palestinians speaking to The Associated Press on Sunday said that at least three GHF aid sites had been abandoned as a condition of the ceasefire and hostage handover between Israel and Hamas. In a statement to the news outlet, however, the foundation cast the closure of the sites as a temporary pause.

For its part, UG Solutions told The Intercept that it is planning to redeploy in Gaza soon. The company said that one site in the Netzarim Corridor is “no longer sustainable” with the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces, but other sites near Gaza’s border with Egypt “remain active” despite a temporary pause.

“We anticipate these sites, plus additional site(s), reactivating or launching this week. UG Solutions remains eager to assist the people of Gaza by providing secure distribution sites where NGOs and international organizations can provide aid and services,” the company spokesperson said.

Even if the company’s work for GHF does not resume, its statements suggest that it is interested in working with other nonprofits in Gaza. The company says that it has stepped up the “vetting and training” of new employees in anticipation of added demand. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. it has hired a lobbying firm closely associated with Donald Trump’s administration.

In its statement, UG Solutions said that its “connections back to the U.S. Department of War and allied nations’ militaries and security services can enable seamless coordination between the soon to be established multinational forces and the humanitarian community.”

“Our cadre of American veterans each have decades of experience in areas facing civil unrest, terrorist threats, and limited to no governance,” the company’s statement reads. “Their knowledge of Gaza and what is likely forthcoming is second to none and positions UG as the go-to security firm to help those focused on rebuilding and delivering aid in the second phase of the peace plan.”

Critics warn that UG Solutions’ work in Gaza could entrench the politicization of international aid, where food and medicine are used as even more naked tools of government policy than in past distribution arrangements — and traditional principles, such as neutrality, impartiality, and independence, are cast aside.

Another Gaza Humanitarian Foundation contractor also said Monday that it planned to keep operating in Gaza. Since the nonprofit’s start, a company founded by a former CIA employee and incorporated in Wyoming, Safe Reach Solutions, has served as its lead contractor.

Corporate records in Wyoming show that the company was “administratively dissolved” on October 7 for failing to have a registered agent on file. In a statement, the company described that as a “clerical error” that would be corrected and said it continues to work for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

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