Palestine

A people and a claim to statehood recognised by most of the world's governments and exercised over almost no territory. Palestinian Arabs were the large majority in Ottoman and then British Palestine, and their political demand from the 1920s was independence in the whole territory, which is why the mandate's leadership rejected partition proposals that Jewish leaders accepted. The war of 1948 left around seven hundred thousand people displaced, most never permitted to return, and their descendants registered as refugees now number several million across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the territories. Egypt held Gaza and Jordan the West Bank until 1967, when Israel took both. The PLO under Yasser Arafat led the movement from exile and recognised Israel in 1993; the Oslo accords created a Palestinian Authority with limited self-government and left final status questions - borders, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements - unresolved, and they remain so. Hamas won elections in 2006 and took Gaza in 2007, splitting the leadership. Over 140 states recognise Palestine and it holds UN observer status. The war that began in October 2023 has killed tens of thousands in Gaza and destroyed most of its buildings. The territories hold around five million people, in the West Bank and Gaza. Arabic is the language and East Jerusalem is claimed as the capital. Gaza is among the most densely populated places on earth. Hebron, Bethlehem and Battir hold World Heritage listings. Olive cultivation and embroidery are long-standing markers of Palestinian identity, and Palestinian tatreez was recognised by Unesco in 2021.

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