Final answer:
Palestine was under a British Mandate before the creation of Israel in 1948. The majority of the population was Arab Muslims, but there were also Jews, as well as Samaritans and Bedouins. British control ended in 1947, leading to the establishment of Israel and subsequent conflicts.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prior to the creation of Israel in 1948, Palestine was a Mandate under British administration following the defeat of the Turkish Ottoman Empire during World War I. The British Mandate over Palestine, including Transjordan, was established through the mandate system instituted by the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919.
The people living in Palestine before the establishment of Israel practiced various religions. The majority of the population was Arab Muslims, but there were also significant numbers of Jews, as well as communities of Samaritans and Bedouins. Competing nationalist aspirations and migration, particularly Zionist immigration, increased tensions and sometimes led to violent conflict between Arabs and Jews in the region.
By relinquishing the mandate in 1947, Britain left the United Nations to devise a plan for partition, creating the new Jewish State of Israel. The partition plan granted the Zionists more land than their numbers at the time might have justified, causing further tensions and resulting in a war upon Israel's declaration of independence. The new state was immediately attacked by its Arab neighbors, leading to extended conflicts and the displacement of many Palestinian Arabs who became refugees.