Battle for Khiam: Town in southern Lebanon becomes key battleground for Israel and Hezbollah

Israeli military is trying to secure control of the town, about 6km from border

Destroyed buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais Al Jabal. Israeli ground forces have entered several villages and towns near Lebanon's southern border, including Khiam. AFP

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The strategic town of Khiam in southern Lebanon has been the site of some of the most intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters during the invasion of the country. In the war with Israel in 2006, the battle of Bint Jbeil, a similarly large strategic town in the south, was marked by a great deal of fighting. Hezbollah lauds its defence of the town to this day.

In recent weeks, there have been fierce battles for Khiam, which is perched on top of a hill overlooking the frontier with Israel about 6km away. Hezbollah continues to repel the Israeli military, the group pushing ahead despite heavy bombing.

“It’s on a hill, it’s an important strategic position for the Israeli military,” said Gen Mounir Shehadeh, who until recently was the Lebanese government's co-ordinator with the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil).

If Israel was to capture Khiam – something it has been trying to do for weeks – it may seek to head north to the town of Marjayoun, or to the east and on into the Bekaa Valley, Gen Shehadeh said.

Since the cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out more than a year ago, Israel has bombed Khiam regularly. Even before the recent escalation in fighting, when The National visited a nearby town in the summer, it was warned by a Lebanese security official that anyone entering Khiam would be struck by an Israeli drone. But when Israeli soldiers, accompanied with tanks, invaded Lebanon last month, the town became a key target.

Satellite photos of the southern Lebanese village of Aita Al Shaab in September, top, and then in late October after heavy Israeli bombardment. AFP

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel had been confined to cross-border bombings since October last year, but the battle in the town has shifted to include exchanges of gunfire between the two sides. Israel continued to bombard the town and move its tanks deeper into the area, while Hezbollah fires missiles and drones. “For the past two months Israel has been attempting to occupy this area. It has not been able until now,” said Gen Shehadeh.

Gen Shehadeh, also the former president of the permanent military court, said Hezbollah fighters had destroyed several Israel tanks with Kornet missiles, while hitting soldiers with drones, particularly at night. Israel was “adamant” on taking Khiam, he stated, adding that three Israeli brigades were sent into the area in support of the operation.

Lebanese state media has reported Israel was “attempting to control the town” due to it being “a strategic gateway for a rapid ground incursion” under the cover of aerial bombardments. Several buildings in Khiam have also been demolished by Israel.

An Israeli flag on a destroyed building and a Lebanese flag on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais Al Jabal. AFP

In recent days, Hezbollah said its fighters had attacked Israeli troops about 20 times in and around the town – while Israeli tanks have been reported east of Khiam, where an old and notorious prison lies derelict.

A resident of Qlayaa, a village overlooking Khiam and one of the few areas of the south where residents have not been evicted, shared a video of an Israeli tank driving along a road next to an olive grove. The Israelis “are destroying buildings and streets in Khiam”, amid the constant sound of bombing, he said.

Symbolic battle

Khiam is just one of several fronts that Israel has opened up in South Lebanon. In another front on Lebanon's western coast, Hezbollah said it had "destroyed" five Israeli tanks on the eastern outskirts of Bayada. Israel has been seeking to capture Bayada in a bid to fully encircle the border town of Naqoura.

Khiam is not just a site of military strategic importance, it is also symbolic. During the Lebanese civil war and Israel's ensuing occupation of the south of Lebanon, it was home to the brutal Khiam detention centre. It was a prisoner of war camp run by Israel's local allies, the South Lebanon Army, where torture and other rights abuses were widespread.

When Israel fled Lebanon in 2000, and the SLA collapsed, images still widely shared today showed people breaking into the prison and releasing detainees. That came after Hezbollah increased its attacks on Khiam and its detention centre as Israel signalled that it would withdraw from southern Lebanon. Gen Shehadeh said there was a “symbolism” given how the cells were broken into and the prisoners released.

The Battle of Bint Jbeil is still talked and lauded by Hezbollah as evidence of its military prowess despite being outmanned and outgunned. The same scenario is currently being played out in Khiam, for now. “But until now the city has not fallen due to [Hezbollah],” Gen Shehadeh said.