Grid position 137/154L Governorate Nabatieh Governorate Elevation 695 m (2,280 ft) Local time Monday 7:07 AM | Country Lebanon District Marjeyoun District Time zone EET (UTC+2) Area code +961 | |
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Weather 10°C, Wind S at 11 km/h, 90% Humidity | ||
Khiam (Arabic الخيام; sometimes spelled Khiyam) is a large town in the South Lebanon Governorate of Southern Lebanon.
Contents
Map of Khiam, Lebanon
Location
Khiam is situated approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) south from the capital city of Beirut and 35 kilometres (22 mi) south-east from the city of Nabatieh. The border with Israel is 5 kilometres (3 mi) to the south. Khiam lies at a height of 800 metres (2,625 ft) above sea level.
Origin of name
E. H. Palmer wrote that the name means "The tents".
History
In 1596, it was named as a village, Hiyam, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 111 households and 7 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a tax on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 6,914 akçe.
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, Schismatic Greeks, and United Greeks, with some Protestants, who have founded a chapel and a school."
In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, north-east of the Merj Ayun, built of stone, containing about 300 Christians and 200 Druzes. It contains a white round Moslem holy place and a modern church. It is situated on a low ridge, surrounded by figs, olives, and arable. The water supply is from three rock-cut cisterns, one birket, and the good spring of 'Ain ed Derdarah."
Modern era
During the 1990s Khiam became known for the Khiam Detention Center, operated by the South Lebanon Army during the Israeli occupation southern of Lebanon. Some Lebanese civilians were exposed to torture in this camp and faced indefinite detention once arrested. The prison was captured by Hezbollah during the Battle of Khiam in 2000, shortly before Israeli withdrawal from the South Lebanon security belt.
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.