Jarabulus lies on the western bank of the Euphrates and north of Lake Assad, just south of the Syria–Turkey border and the Turkish town of Karkamış.

In the Bronze and Iron Ages, the archaeological site lying just north of Jarabulus (half of which is now in Turkey) was called Karkemish, in Greek and Roman times the ancient name of the city was "Europos" (Εὐρωπός), which must have been at the origin of the modern form of the toponym Jerabis.

The original 18th century form of the toponym seems to have been "Djerabis",but it was later found as "Djeraboolos" or "Djerablus", probably deriving from Hierapolis (modern-day Manbij, to the southwest).

Being on the southern side of the Istanbul-Baghdad railway, Jarabulus became a border town with Turkey based on the Treaty of Lausanne in the aftermath of World War I.

[6] On 24 August 2016 around 4:00 AM (local time), Turkey-backed rebels and the Turkish Army launched a military operation into Syria to capture Jarabulus from the Islamic State.

Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki's political leader Yasser Ibrahim al-Yusuf, son of the perpetrator of the Aleppo Artillery School massacre, also said that the city would be governed by a newly formed council.

[16][better source needed] The head of the Syrian Interim Government based in Turkey, Jawad Abu Hatab, met with the Jarabulus local council on the same day.