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American and Egyptian contractors check vehicles at a checkpoint in Gaza

American and Egyptian contractors check vehicles at a checkpoint in Gaza

As he and his family waited in line for a car, Mohammed al-Rifi announced that he would be able to “come back to life” once he reached Gaza City.

“I feel like I died and now I’m coming back to life,” he told the Reuters news agency. “It’s an indescribable feeling to see my family, my people, my neighborhood.”

“My children didn’t see their home, they didn’t know their home, they didn’t know anything. They landed on the sand,” he added. “There was no life… I want to sit on the rubble and rest.”

Last week, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, said that “outside supervisors” would be stationed at the Netzarim corridor border crossings to “(make sure) people are safe and those coming in will not be armed and no one not bad motivations.”

A source familiar with the planning of the operation told the BBC that ceasefire mediators had formed a “multinational consortium” to “oversee, manage and secure a critical vehicle checkpoint along the Salah al-Din road, facilitating the safe return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.”

The source said the consortium “aims to ensure orderly movement of vehicles while preventing the transport of weapons to the north, in line with the terms of the ceasefire” and that checkpoint staff would be “neutral parties with regional experience and security expertise.”

“The current consortium participants include Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), a strategic planning and logistics company, UG Solutions, a globally trusted provider of integrated security solutions, and an Egyptian security company, reflecting a diverse and international composition,” they added.

Last week The Washington Post reported that contractor employees would be authorized to confiscate any weapons or military equipment found, externalbut that the vehicles carrying them and their passengers can continue their journey.

The Palestinians “will pass through this checkpoint and we will not stop them. They simply cannot bring in anything that is deemed dangerous,” said an UG Solutions official.

They also stressed that the personnel were there “only to man the checkpoint” and had no military mission or ability to detain militants.

According to an internal UG Solutions document obtained by the newspaper, they will be armed with assault rifles, sniper rifles and pistols.