The contractors have been enlisted to do weapons checks on vehicles carrying displaced Palestinians back to their homes in the north under the terms of the new cease-fire.

The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas stretched into a fifth day on Thursday. Humanitarian aid groups are working to surge food and supplies to the war-ravaged territory as Palestinians scour through mountains of rubble looking for bodies of those killed by Israeli bombardments during the 15-month war.

Israel says troops fired on masked gunmen in Gaza, but it remains committed to the ceasefire as it continues a new offensive in the West Bank.