It is bordered by Bir Nabala and Al Judeira to the east, Beituniya to the north, Beit Ijza and Biddu to the west, and An Nabi Samwil to the south.

[1] Al-Jib is identified with the ancient Canannite and Israelite city of Gibeon (from Biblical Hebrew: gēb “pit, ditch, trench").

[9] Gibeon prospered during the late Iron Age II, when the town had strong fortifications, a winery and a sophisticated water system.

[11] Pottery and coins from the Late Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods dating to the reigns of Antiochus III and John Hyrcanus were discovered at the site.

[15] In 1152, during the Crusader era, a confrere of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Baldwin of Tournai, was granted a prebend relating to juxta Gabeon.

The village is of moderate size, the houses of stone, with a central tower, and massive foundations exist among the modern buildings.

Olives, figs, pears, apples, and vines are cultivated round the village and in the plain; there are also extensive corn-fields in the low ground.

[37] Since 1967, Israel has confiscated 26.6% of Al Jib’s lands to establish large urban Israeli settlements Givon (1978), Giv'on HaHadashah (1980) and Giv'at Ze'ev (1982).

[38] In 2005, Israel started the construction of a separation barrier around Al Jib, al-Judeira, Bir Nabala, Beit Hanina al-Balad and Kalandiya.

A complete neighborhood, Al Khalayleh, with an estimated population of 700 citizens, is now located west of the Wall in a separate enclave between Israeli settlements.

In April 2012, Israel demolished a number of houses in Al Khalayleh and displaced 67 Palestinian refugees from the neighborhood, most of whom were children.

[38][better source needed] Israel claims that it intends to build two alternate roads that will link the enclave to the rest of the West Bank to prevent its complete isolation.

The road's construction will require complex engineering work and will cost tens of millions of shekels, so it is likely that the project will take a long time, if ever, to complete[38][39] B'Tselem points out that because thousands of the enclave's residents hold Israeli identity cards, they are entitled to free access to East Jerusalem by law, and that the barrier thus "will severely impair [their] human rights" by cutting off direct access.

[39] Al Jib is on the list of "Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in the West Bank Governorates" compiled by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOCIP) of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) due to the excavations of ancient Gibeon.