[Verginius Rufus]

There were people in the Land of Canaan before the Israelite conquest--Amorites, Hivites, Jebusites, etc. The Philistines are reported to be recent immigrants from the Aegean area. I once saw a suggestion that the tribe of Dan was also immigrants--Danaans (one of the terms for Greeks in Homer). Another publication argued that "Hivites" were Achaeans (another early term for Greeks).

What differentiated the Canaanites from the Israelites other than religion? Jacob's sons must have married local women for the most part (except for Joseph).

The Samaritans were mostly descended from the Ten Northern Tribes (but the Assyrians seem to have settled some Mesopotamians among them--but told them to learn the religion of the native population). How does modern Samaritan DNA compare to Jewish DNA?

In the early medieval period, before the Arab conquest, the population seems to have been mostly Christian (with some Samaritans and some Jews)...these people were probably a mix of Israelite, Canaanite, Philistine and Greek ancestry. The later "Palestinian Arab" population would be mostly descended from those who were there in the 7th century since Arabia didn't have that big a population and there were more attractive places for Arabs to settle.

Some Lebanese are descended from Crusader ("Frank") ancestors. Jerusalem historically had an Armenian quarter in the Old City.

[Cronos]

Modern Samaritan DNA has slightly more Cohen genes than Jews on average.