Khiam

Khiam is a town in the Marjayoun District of south Lebanon, approximately 4 km north of the Israeli border and 6 km south of the Litani River. Its elevated position commands the road network running north toward the Beqaa Valley, making it a recurring military objective in every major Lebanon conflict since Israel's first invasion in 1978. The site gained international notoriety through the Khiam Detention Centre, an Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army prison that held Lebanese detainees without trial from 1985 until Hezbollah fighters liberated it in May 2000 following Israel's withdrawal.

Khiam became one of the primary focal points of the 2026 Lebanon war. Hezbollah reported the first direct ground clashes with Israeli forces in the town in March 2026, the deepest reported engagement since the 1982-2000 occupation. Israeli forces from the 36th Armoured Division advanced through the area as part of operations to establish a security zone south of the Litani. Airstrikes destroyed bridges over the Litani, cutting southern Lebanon's road links to the north. On 22 June 2026, the IDF carried out a localised redeployment from the nearby village of Debbine toward Khiam in what the IDF described as 'dynamic defence' rather than a withdrawal, with Lebanese Army engineers and UNIFIL moving into the vacated area. The wider security zone, up to 10 km deep, remained intact.

Khiam's position in the ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks is structural: the Washington fifth round in June 2026 centred on an Israeli 'model zone' south of the Litani where the Lebanese Armed Forces would take exclusive control, with Khiam on the axis of any future IDF withdrawal. Israel holds the zone and Netanyahu has stated forces will stay 'as long as necessary', directly blocking Iran's precondition for opening nuclear sub-talks.