Khiam () is a municipality in Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon. Parts of Khiam are currently occupied by Israel as part of their occupation of southern Lebanon.
Etymology According to Edward Henry Palmer, the name means tents.Palmer, 1881, p. 26 Haifa Nassar, a Khiam-based journalist, cites sources that confirm this. Muhammad Qubawasi, author of a book on South Lebanon, writes that according to the Torah, Jacob moved his family and livestock to the plain of Khiam, where he lived in tents.
Location Khiam is situated approximately south from the capital city of Beirut and south-east from the city of Nabatieh. The border with Israel is to the south. Khiam lies at a height of above sea level.
History
Ottoman period In the 1596 Ottoman tax records, the village of Hiyam was located in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 111 Muslim households and 7 bachelors. The villagers paid a tax on wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 6,914 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 181Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
In 1838, Eli Smith writes about el-Khiyam, a Metawileh, "Greek" Christian and Maronite village in Merj 'Ayun'.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 137
In 1875, Victor Guérin visited: "El Khiam contains two quarters: the one on the south, with a population of 700 Metawileh, and the other on the north, with 600 Christians, divided into Maronites, Greek-Orthodox, and Greek-Catholics, with some Protestants, who have founded a chapel and a school."Guerin, 1880, p. 279; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 88
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, northeast of the Merj Ayun, built of stone, containing about 300 Christians and 200 Druze. It contains a white round Moslem holy place and a modern church. It was situated on a low ridge, surrounded by figs, olives, and arable. The water supply was from three rock-cut cisterns, one birket, and the good spring of 'Ain ed Derdarah."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 88
French mandate period The municipality of Khiam was established in 1928 during the French Mandate. The first municipal council, led by Haj Mohammad Haj Hussein Abdullah, was dissolved in 1931.
In 1935, Haj Ali Afandi Haj Ibrahim Abdullah was elected mayor. In 1937, he stepped down after being appointed to the Lebanese parliament.
After independence In 1953, Haj Khalil Haidar was re-elected and served as mayor until 1957. In 1957, he was replaced by Hassan Ali Faiz who remained in this position until 1963. A new council was elected in 1963, with 16 members, and Kamel Mohammad Ali Al-Daoui as the mayor and Haj Asaad Khalil Mhana as the deputy mayor. This council continued its work until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975.
During the 1990s, Khiam was the site of the Khiam Detention Center, operated by the South Lebanon Army during the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Lebanese Shia civilians were exposed to torture by Israeli and Lebanese agents in this camp and faced indefinite detention once arrested. The prison was captured by Hezbollah during the Battle of Khiam in 2000, shortly before the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon.
The town saw a major confrontation between the Israeli Army and Hezbollah fighters in the 2006 Lebanon War, during which a United Nations post was bombed by the Israeli Army killing four United Nations Military Observers.HRW, 2007, pp. 114-116 The IDF and Hezbollah clashed in the area once again in June 2024, with fighter jets and artillery strikes.
In October 2024, Khiam become the site of heavy fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah. Following the ceasefire, Israel Defense Forces systematically destroyed civilian infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water installations, as well as destroying and damaging every home in the town. The town's inhabitants returned to the rubble, vowing not to abandon their town, recovering items from the rubble and attempting to rebuild.
Following the start of the 2026 Lebanon war, during the Battle of Khiam, Israel captured Khiam as part of their occupation of southern Lebanon. The Lebanese National News Agency reported that Israeli forces continued the demolition of homes even after the 2026 Lebanon ceasefire.
Demographics In 2014 Muslims made up 93.17% and Christians 6.48% of registered voters in Khiam. 91.29% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.
Notable people
Ali Daher (born 1996), Lebanese footballer Issam Abdallah (1986-2023), Reuters video journalist Ali Hassan Khalil (born 1964), former Minister of Finance
References
Bibliography
External links Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2: IAA, Wikimedia commons Khiyam (archive.org), Localiban Khiam Official website Khiam center In focus: Al-Khiyam, BBC profile