Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza have passed through checkpoints in a central zone of the enclave where scanners check for concealed weapons being taken in cars and vehicles.

Tens of thousands of displaced Gaza residents ended months of exile in temporary camps and began returning to what was left of their homes on Monday after Israel opened a corridor into the north of the battered enclave.

President Trump’s Saturday night proposal that Palestinians vacate a devastated Gaza marked a sharp break with his predecessor and introduced a contentious new initiative into his unfolding Middle East diplomatic plans.