Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The Palestinians are the indigenous Arab people of the Levant (modern-day Israel, West Bank, Gaza). After the 1948 establishment of Israel (the Nakba), hundreds of thousands became refugees. The 1967 war placed the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli occupation. Since the 19th-century rise of Palestinian nationalism, the goal has been an independent state in all or part of historic Palestine—yet borders, sovereignty, and right of return remain unresolved despite decades of diplomacy.