Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to their homes in northern Gaza through checkpoints in a region located in the central part of the Gaza Strip, where scanning devices are used to detect any weapons hidden inside vehicles and other modes of transportation.

Here is an explanation of how this system works, according to witnesses who passed through there:

- The searches are conducted by Egyptian contractors in cooperation with a private American security company, but there are no reports of American citizens being on the ground.

- The checkpoints appear to be managed by Egyptian security personnel. The inspection team members wear black vests with the words “Egyptian-Qatari Committee” written on them.

- There are also armed Egyptian security personnel in official uniforms stationed at a distance from the main inspection area.

- As vehicles approach the checkpoints, all passengers disembark, leaving only the driver inside, who then drives the vehicle to the inspection point, where it is scanned for weapons or explosives.

- Witnesses said the entire process takes a few minutes for each vehicle.

- Police officers from the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) are stationed on either side of the roads leading to the inspection area in the so-called Netzarim corridor to maintain order, while engineering units with bomb-sniffing dogs search for unexploded ordnance.