In February 2025, a North Carolina-based company announced it would pay U.S. special forces veterans $1,100 per day, and a $10,000 signing bonus, to staff a checkpoint in Gaza.
The contractors will staff the checkpoint at a key intersection in Gaza’s interior, said the spokesperson, who confirmed the authenticity of the email.
The rules of engagement governing when UG Solutions personnel can open fire have been finalized, the spokesperson said, but he declined to disclose them.
“We have the right to defend ourselves,” he said. He declined to discuss how the company won the contract.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel on Tuesday told reporters, without naming UG Solutions or the United States, that Israel had demanded that the deal include the use of a private security firm, working with “an Egyptian security company or forces” to help maintain security and humanitarian aid flows in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas
The current conflict between these two sides, the fifteenth in recent years, began badly for both sides. The first day of the war was the deadliest for Israel, and it is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the conflict.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage. After clearing militants from its territory, Israel launched an intensive bombing campaign and, three weeks later, invaded Gaza with the stated objectives of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.
Israeli forces launched numerous campaigns during the invasion, including the Rafah offensive in May 2024, three battles fought around Khan Yunis, and the Siege of North Gaza in October 2024. A temporary ceasefire in November 2023 broke down, but both sides agreed to a new deal on January 15, 2025, which took effect four days later.
Since the start of the Israeli offensive, over 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been reported killed. More than 100,000 Palestinians have also been injured. Nearly all of the strip’s 2.3 million Palestinian population have been forcibly displaced. Over 100,000 Israelis were internally displaced as of February 2024. Both sides have allegedly committed acts of torture and sexual violence
Various experts and human rights organizations have stated that Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes and genocide in Gaza. A case accusing Israel of committing genocide is being reviewed by the International Court of Justice, while the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders. Israel assassinated Hamas leaders inside and outside Gaza. Israel received extensive military and diplomatic support from the United States, which has vetoed multiple pro-ceasefire resolutions from the UN Security Council.
The war has reverberated regionally and internationally. By late 2024, a year of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah led to a brief Israeli invasion of Lebanon, as well as the fall of the Assad regime and an ongoing Israeli invasion of Syria. The war continues to have significant regional and international repercussions. Large protests have taken place across the world calling for a ceasefire. There has been a surge of antisemitism and anti-Palestinianism.
Dollars and Sense and Private Military Contractors
In a war-torn area like Gaza, the price of peace is very high, especially in the short term. However, the investment pays rich dividends later. Private military contractors are much the same. These individuals often earn much more than regular servicemembers, but the investment is worthwhile.
After contractor deployment ends, the government’s financial commitment also ends. Instead of redeploying them elsewhere, the government simply severs ties with the contractor.
In other ways, contractors are like office temps. Many times, temps earn more than regular employees. Office temps also often handle the duties no one else wants to handle. Private military contractors do the same thing. They perform mundane activities like escorting supply convoys, staffing checkpoints, escorting VIPs on tours, and verifying IDs at gates.
Furthermore, if private military contractors get injured or sick during their deployments, the government has no financial obligations. Injury compensation is still available, through the Defense Base Act. More on that below.
The pay gap also applies to non-combat contractors, like truck drivers and construction supervisors. Such jobs are much more dangerous in Gaza than Georgia. Essentially, therefore, these workers receive hazard pay.
Both kinds of contractors are also very flexible. Government authorities make one phone call, and combat contractors are boots on the ground and non-combat contractors are on the job. Another phone call usually ends the deployment.
Injury Compensation Available
Contractors and their families depend heavily on the money they earn. In many cases, a private contractor is a family’s primary or only breadwinner. Any income disruption, even if it only lasts two or three weeks, is often financially crippling.
The financial stress of an illness or injury exacerbates the physical stress. Instead of focusing on getting better, injured contractors worry about money. Furthermore, if their lost wages are not replaced, they may return to work sooner than they should.
So, the Defense Base Act’s lost wage replacement benefit may be the most important DBA financial benefit. This benefit has four different forms:
- Temporary Total Disability: Most injured contractors cannot work until their injuries or illnesses heal. So, the Defense Base Act pays two-thirds of the victim’s average weekly wage (AWW) for the duration of that temporary disability. The benefit usually continues during physical therapy and other ancillary medical treatment.
- Temporary Partial Disability: Sometimes, victims can work part time or accept light duty assignments during physical therapy or in the late stages of medical recovery. These assignments usually pay significantly less than their regular jobs. So, the DBA pays two-thirds of the difference between the victim’s old and new incomes.
- Permanent Partial Disability: Some victims cannot work full time even after they fully recover from their injuries. If they must permanently work part time or light duty assignments, the DBA pays two-thirds of the difference between their projected future income and their pre-illness or injury projected future income.
- Permanent Total Disability: Some victims cannot work at all after an illness or injury. Basically, a permanent disability is a permanent impairment of an important everyday function that makes employment impossible. Once again, the DBA pays two-thirds of the difference between projected previous income and projected future income.
A Defense Base Act lawyer can obtain 100 percent benefits even if the victim was partially responsible for, or entirely responsible for, the illness or injury. 100% benefits are also available if a pre-existing condition contributed to the risk and/or severity of the illness or injury.
For more information about other DBA benefits, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.