Palestinians are an Arab ethno-nationalist group residing primarily in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Israel, Jordan, and parts of southern Lebanon and Syria. They are an Arab ethnonational group descending from peoples who have inhabited the region of Palestine over the millennia, and who are today culturally and linguistically Arab. The term "Palestinian" was used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs from the late 19th century and in the pre-World War I period. The Palestinian National Charter defines "Palestinians" as "those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted from it or stayed there".

There are roughly 13 million Palestinians in the world, according to a 2018 estimate from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the vast majority of whom are Sunni Muslims, though a significant minority is Christian. Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, the majority of them descended from Palestinians who remained in the country after the 1948 war, constitute about one-fifth of the Israeli population.

The relationship between Palestinian Israelis and the state is complex and often fraught, with many believing that the country discriminates against them in concrete ways. The primary approach to solving the conflict today is a so-called “two-state solution” that would establish Palestine as an independent state in Gaza and most of the West Bank, leaving the rest of the land to Israel.