Palestine comprises two non-contiguous territories: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank covers approximately 5,655 square kilometers between Israel and Jordan, including East Jerusalem. The Gaza Strip covers 365 square kilometers along the Mediterranean coast. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported a population of approximately 5.3 million in these territories as of 2022, with roughly 3.2 million in the West Bank and 2.1 million in Gaza. Palestinian Arabs constitute the overwhelming majority, including both Muslim and Christian communities. The Samaritans, an ethnoreligious group numbering fewer than 900 individuals, maintain ancient communities near Mount Gerizim in Nablus.
Palestinian Arabic serves as the primary spoken language. Modern Standard Arabic functions as the official language for government, education, and media. English holds significant presence in business, higher education, and among younger urban populations due to historical British Mandate influence and contemporary international engagement. Code-switching between Arabic and English occurs frequently in urban centers like Ramallah.
The Nakba of 1948 marks the central trauma in Palestinian collective memory. During the 1947-1949 war surrounding Israel's establishment, approximately 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in what became Israeli territory. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, established in 1949, documented 726,000 registered refugees by 1950. Refugee camps formed in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. These camps—including Deheisheh near Bethlehem, Balata near Nablus, and Jabalia in Gaza—evolved into permanent dense neighborhoods where multiple generations have lived since 1948.
The Six-Day War of June 1967 brought the West Bank and Gaza Strip under Israeli military occupation. Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Israeli military administration replaced Jordanian and Egyptian governance structures. The occupation now exceeds 57 years, making it one of the longest military occupations in modern history. Israeli settlement construction began shortly after 1967, expanding significantly during subsequent decades. The West Bank now contains more than 130 Israeli settlements and approximately 450,000 Israeli settlers as of 2022, separate from approximately 220,000 Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem.
The First Intifada erupted in December 1987 in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp after an Israeli truck struck and killed four Palestinian workers. Popular resistance spread throughout the occupied territories, characterized by strikes, boycotts, stone-throwing, and civil disobedience against Israeli military forces. The uprising persisted until 1993, killing approximately 1,100 Palestinians and 160 Israelis according to B'Tselem documentation. The intifada fundamentally altered Palestinian political consciousness and produced a generation of grassroots leadership separate from the Palestine Liberation Organization's external exile structure.
The Oslo Accords, signed in Washington in September 1993 and in Taba in September 1995, created the Palestinian Authority as an interim self-government body. The agreements divided the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C. Area A, comprising approximately 18 percent of the West Bank, came under full Palestinian civil and security control. Area B, approximately 22 percent, came under Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control. Area C, approximately 60 percent, remained under full Israeli civil and security control, including all settlements, military zones, and most open spaces. Oslo envisioned final status negotiations concluding by 1999, but permanent agreement has not materialized.
The Second Intifada began in September 2000 following Ariel Sharon's visit to Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's Old City. Armed conflict replaced the First Intifada's predominantly unarmed resistance. Israeli military operations and Palestinian armed attacks escalated through 2005. B'Tselem documented approximately 3,200 Palestinian deaths and 1,000 Israeli deaths during this period. Israel constructed a separation barrier through the West Bank starting in 2002, routing it primarily within occupied territory rather than along the 1949 armistice line, separating Palestinian communities from agricultural land and each other.
Yasser Arafat dominated Palestinian political life from the 1960s until his death in November 2004. Arafat led Fatah, the largest Palestinian political faction, and chaired the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969. He became the first President of the Palestinian Authority in 1996. Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres in 1994 for the Oslo process. He died in a Paris hospital under circumstances that remain disputed, with some Palestinians alleging poisoning though French medical records cited a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
Mahmoud Darwish stands as Palestine's national poet. Born in al-Birwa village in 1941, he lived in exile from 1971 to 1996, residing in Beirut, Paris, and Tunis. His collection "Unfortunately, It Was Paradise" sold tens of thousands of copies across the Arab world. "Identity Card," written in 1964, became an anthem of Palestinian identity with its refrain "Record! I am an Arab." Darwish died in Houston, Texas, in August 2008 during heart surgery. His funeral in Ramallah drew tens of thousands of mourners.