Members of the ancient Samaritan community attend the traditional Passover sacrifice in Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank town of Nablus According to tradition, the Samaritans are descendants of Jews who were not deported when the Assyrians conquered Israel in the 8th century B.C. Of the small community of close to 700 people, half live in a village at Mount Gerizim, and the rest in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv.