[1] Since the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Salfit, located in Area A, has been administered by the Palestinian National Authority,[4] while continuing under Israeli military occupation.

[5] According to Ronnie Ellenblum, Salfit was re-established during early Muslim rule (7th–11th centuries) and continued to exist through the Crusader period.

[5] In 1596 the village appeared in Ottoman tax registers under the name of Salfit al-Basal as being in the Nahiya ("Subdistrict") of Jabal Qubal, part of the Sanjak of Nablus.

The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olives, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 7,618 akçe.

[7] In the 18th and 19th centuries, Salfit formed part of the highland region known as Jūrat ‘Amra or Bilād Jammā‘īn.

Situated between Dayr Ghassāna in the south and the present Route 5 in the north, and between Majdal Yābā in the west and Jammā‘īn, Mardā and Kifl Ḥāris in the east, this area served, according to historian Roy Marom, "as a buffer zone between the political-economic-social units of the Jerusalem and the Nablus regions.

On the political level, it suffered from instability due to the migration of the Bedouin tribes and the constant competition among local clans for the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Ottoman authorities.

[12] In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine, Salfit was described as "a large village, on high ground, with olive groves round it, and a pool to the east.

[13] By 1916, towards the end of Ottoman rule in Palestine, Salfit was one of the two largest villages in the District of Nablus that produced olive oil.

One of the reasons for the disparity was the locust attack on Salfit's crop earlier the previous year which had destroyed the village's harvest.

Consequently, according to historian Glenn E. Robinson, between 1987 and 1989, a "virtual green revolution" took hold in the town as a result of the enthusiasm generated by the "back-to-the-land movement," agricultural expertise and the increase in additional workers.

While prior to the uprising Salfit's residents acquired the bulk of their produce from the Nablus region and Israel, during the revolt the town became self-sufficient in both tomatoes, which were not grown at all previously, and cucumbers.

[citation needed] As a result of an Israeli military measure that closed all schools in the West Bank on 3 February 1988 for the stated purpose that they served to organize violence, a number of "popular education committees" were established.

[29] In 1995 the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which now administered the town, created the district of Salfit gained the status of governorate.

The establishment of such a large settlement, according to Salfit residents, would effectively block their own planned urban expansion.

Education services in Salfit are provided by four modern schools in addition to the Al-Quds Open University campus.

[40] The Community Center is located on al-Madares Street in Salfit and was established by the Relief International Schools Online (RISOL) in 2007.

For the past nine years, the municipality has been trying to build a waste-water treatment plant to service the residents of Salfit town.