It is bordered by Attil to the west, Kafr Ra'i to the east, and the Israeli settlement of Hermesh to the north.

Scholars believe it marked the site of a Jewish or Samaritan tomb dating from the late Second Temple period, possibly to the time of Herod.

The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, beehives and/or goats, in addition to jizya and miscellaneous; a total of 5,074 akçe.

[12] In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "a small village on the side of a hill, with olives and wells.

After Oslo II Accord in 1995, Illar was placed under Area A of the West Bank under security and civil administration of the Palestinian National Authority.