Nearby localities include Jableh to the north, Ayn al-Sharqiyah to the northeast, Qurfays and Dweir Baabda to the east and Baniyas to the south.

[6] Excavations at the site carried out in 1958 reveal a lengthy period, between the 5th and 1st centuries BCE, where there was no settlement activity in the northern Arab al-Mulk part of the village.

[5] During the Muslim conquest of Syria, in the 630s, the Arab general Ubadah ibn As-Samit conquered Paltos and soon after the town "fell into ruin",[10] as stated by medieval Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi who visited the site in 1229.

The ruins of a fortified tower dating to the 11th century are located in the Beldi al-Melek part of the village, suggesting a Crusader presence.

[13] In 1271 the Mamluks under the leadership of Sultan Baibars gained control of Belda and its territories soon after the Crusader garrison at the Krak des Chevaliers fortress was defeated.

[14] The modern locality receives its name ′Arab al-Mulk as a result of its settlement by Bedouin ('Arab) and the likelihood that the village was part of the imperial holdings (mulk) of various Ottoman sultans (16th-early 20th centuries) who owned vast swathes of territory along the Syrian coastline.

[7] In the late 19th-century the part of Arab al-Mulk south of the al-Sinn tributary was marked by the vast ruins of Paltos, while just north of the stream stood a large caravanserai (khan).