in 1948 all the surrounding arab/muslim nations went to war with the idea of obliterating the new nation. to this end all the arab inhabitants were told to leave the area so the arab armies could sweep in and destroy the jews. they did this with expectation of returning once the jewish problem had been dealt with or that was what they were told.
the arabs never returned en masse.
there has been a continuous jewish presence in the land since Abraham
https://beholdisrael.org/3000-year-old-first-temple-weight-discovered-in-jerusalem/
https://www.realmofhistory.com/2018/10/10/oldest-inscription-name-jerusalem/
