It is surrounded by the town of Biddu (east), Beit 'Anan (northwest), Qatanna (southwest), and Kharayib Umm al-Lahim (west).

In the Crusader era a new Frankish village was erected along the still extant Roman road and received the name Parva Mahomeria.

During the 13th century Qubeibeh was gradually adopted by pilgrims as the location of Emmaus, the village mentioned in Luke 24:13-35, eventually replacing Abu Ghosh in this function.

[5] In 1838 el-Kubeibeh was noted as a Muslim village, part of Beni Malik area, located west of Jerusalem.

[6] In 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin described it as a village of a hundred people who lived in old houses, each consisting of a single vaulted room.

[8][9] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size, standing on a flat ridge with a few olives to the west.

[citation needed] Of the three major candidates identified with Emmaus, Al-Qubeiba is the only one located in the Palestinian territories, which means that if visitors are coming from Israel access can be more difficult.

[25] Diaa' A-Din 'Abd al-Karim Ibrahim Abu 'Eid was shot dead by gunfire during an anti-barrier demonstration on 18 April 2004.

[26] Muhammad Fadel Hashem Rian and Zakaria Mahmoud 'Eid Salem were shot dead during anti-barrier demonstrations on 26 February 2004 at Beit Ijaz (a satellite village of Biddu).

The medical facilities for al-Qubeiba are classified as level 2 according to the Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Health.

The village also enjoys the presence of one park (with an outdoor semi-olympic swimming pool) and two large multi-purpose halls for weddings and other major events.