The Palestinians are an Arab national group from the Southern Levant, predominantly the modern State of Israel.
Palestinians are predominantly Sunni Muslims, thought there are a minority of Christian and Shia Palestinians, as well as Druze and Samaritians that identify as Palestinian. There is dispute about when the Palestinian identity coalesced, be it in the post- or pre-war periods, and if it was an internal development or in direct response to the zionist movement.
The war that established Israel between Jewish and Arab forces resulted in a mass displacement of Palestinian Arabs. There is a significant diaspora of Palesitnians, especially in neighbouring Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. 20% of Israeli citizens are Arabs, of which many also identify as Palestinian. Many Diaspora Palesitnians, as well as those from families displaced from beyond the 1948 armistice lines, identify as refugees.
Many Palestinian political movements lay claim to all the land of Israel as the future Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority is one of the pirmary bodies that governs the Palestinians, with varying degrees of control in the West Bank. Palestinians have autonomy in Gaza, which is under the rule of Hamas.
