Who are the modern descendants of the Philistines?

The Philistines were a sea people who arrived in the Levant around 1250 BCE and settled in the fertile coastal plains and foothills from the Egyptian border north to present-day Tel Aviv.

Over time, they absorbed a wave of Nabatean immigrants and were then culturally absorbed by their Canaanite neighbours to the north. After the Alexandrian conquests, they absorbed the Greek language and culture, as did their neighbours, other than the Jews. Because of this, by New Testament times we find them sometimes see them referred to by the Jews as "Greeks", sometimes as gentiles.

The former Philistines were pagans in the Roman Empire, but with the arrival of Christianity, became Christians. The Arabs overran Palestine in the seventh century CE, after which most became Muslims but a significant number remained Christians even to this day. Modern Palestinians are considered to be descended from various races in the region, including Philistines, Canaanites, Greeks, Romans, Nabataeans, Peninsular Arabs and others.