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A US private security contractor that provided armed guards at aid distribution sites in Gaza, where hundreds of starving Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, is seeking to expand its presence in the devastated territory under Donald Trump's Board of Peace framework.
UG Solutions, based in North Carolina, told the Financial Times it had submitted a "very broad" bid to Trump's newly established Board of Peace, offering services ranging from security for aid trucks to protection of work sites and storage facilities. The company said it was prepared to deploy "several hundred or more staff and contractors" to Gaza or elsewhere in the Middle East, though it has not yet secured a formal mandate.
The firm is actively recruiting, advertising roles on its website for Arabic speakers including a "female cultural support officer" and an "international humanitarian security officer" with combat experience. A company spokesperson said UG Solutions was building a "reserve roster" of vetted contractors ready for rapid deployment to the region.
UG Solutions previously deployed armed contractors to guard militarized aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israeli-backed operation that drew fierce international condemnation before shutting down last year after five months. Founded by a retired Green Beret, the firm staffed its operations largely with former US special forces veterans.
Hundreds of Palestinian civilians, many of them desperate for food amid a severe famine triggered by Israeli restrictions on aid, were killed by Israeli troops as they traveled through military zones to reach GHF distribution points. The United Nations refused to cooperate with the system, calling it unethical and unsafe. US lawmakers also raised alarms, warning that contractors with the firm could face criminal and civil liability under US law for their role in the operations.
UG Solutions has denied that its personnel fired on civilians, saying its armed contractors only secured distribution sites and their immediate perimeter and had no control over actions by the Israeli military or Palestinian armed groups. The UN and other humanitarian organizations were eventually able to scale up their own aid operations after a ceasefire took effect in Oct. 2025.
The firm's recruitment push comes as Trump's peace plan for Gaza takes shape. Trump chaired the Board of Peace's inaugural meeting at the US Institute of Peace headquarters in Washington on Thursday, announcing what he said was an initial $7 billion in donations pledged by nine countries for Gaza reconstruction. The US separately committed $10 billion to the board, though it remains unclear where the money would come from or how it would be spent.
The administration also announced that Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania had committed troops to an international stabilization force, while Egypt and Jordan would train police for the territory.
Trump's 20-point plan, endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in November 2025, envisions Hamas disarming, Israeli forces withdrawing, a multinational stabilization force deploying, and Gaza being rebuilt under international supervision. Trump chairs the board and, under its charter, holds the sole authority to nominate his successor, a role he has indicated he intends to keep for life.
UG Solutions told the FT it had also offered to provide advisory services, sharing "lessons learned" with logistics companies or other organizations that are new to Gaza or lack relationships with local communities. The spokesperson noted there was no shortage of available recruits, citing the end of US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and the broader scaling down of American military involvement around the world.
The firm hired the Trump-connected lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which previously employed White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi, to help navigate business opportunities in Gaza and elsewhere.
Despite its ambitions, the company's path forward remains uncertain. Hamas retains control of nearly half of the territory, where Gaza's entire population of 2.1 million people lives amid widespread destruction. Several close US allies have hesitated to join or have declined to participate in the Board of Peace, with critics warning the structure could sideline the United Nations and lacks meaningful Palestinian representation. According to Gaza's health ministry, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire went into effect.
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