| Battle of Khiam (2000) | |||||||||
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| Part of the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 South Lebanese Army |  Hezbollah | ||||||||
The battle of Khiam, fought between Hezbollah and the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in April and May 2000, which became a crucial step in the disintegration of the South Lebanon Army, in light of the coming withdrawal of IDF troops from South Lebanon.
The Khiam detention center was originally a French barrack complex, built in the 1930s. It became a base for the Lebanese army, before falling under control of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and in 1985 was converted into a prison camp. It remained in use until Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon.
In July 1999, Ehud Barak became Israel's Prime Minister, promising Israel would unilaterally withdraw to the international border by July 2000. Prior to his actions, many believed that Israel would only withdraw from South Lebanon upon reaching an agreement with Syria. During the spring of 2000, Hezbollah operations stepped up considerably, with persistent harassment of Israeli military outposts in occupied Lebanese territory. As preparation for the major withdrawal plan, Israeli forces began abandoning several forward positions within the security zone of South Lebanon.
In April 2000, a Hezbollah force approached the Khiam detention center in an attempt to make a surprise attack on the SLA facility. The force was repelled with casualties.
In May 2000, upon increasing disintegration among the SLA ranks, Hezbollah fighters reinforced by local Shia residents and civilians of Khiam [1] attacked the facility and following a short battle took over the prison. Several SLA soldiers were taken captive. The prisoners of the detention center (mostly Hezbollah militants and activists) were released.
On 24 May, Israel announced that it would withdraw all troops from South Lebanon. All Israeli forces had withdrawn from Lebanon by the end of the next day, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July. [2] Just prior to the announcement many of the command staff of the South Lebanon Army abandoned their positions and fled into Israel with their families. The announcement further escalated the disintegration and with the completion of Israeli withdrawal, some 6,000 former SLA soldiers and commanders with their families fled to Israel, abandoning their weaponry and homes. On June 16, 2000, UN Security Council concluded that Israel had indeed withdrawn its forces to internationally recognized border with Lebanon, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 (1978).
Though Israel considered this move as tactical withdrawal, the withdrawal of the IDF and the disintegration of the South Lebanon Army eventually led to complete take over of Hizbullah over south Lebanon and increasing Hizbullah's strength in Lebanese politics. The low level conflict with Israel had continued along the border in the vicinity of Shabaa, where Hizbullah engaged continuous bombardment of Israeli positions and abducted the bodies of 3 Israeli soldiers in October 2000.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, adopted on 19 March 1978, five days after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the context of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War, called on Israel to withdraw immediately its forces from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). It was adopted by 12 votes to none; Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union abstained, and China did not participate.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, and several further resolutions in 2006 to confirm Hezbollah demilitarisation, support Lebanese army operations against insurgents and weapon smuggling, and confirming Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, in order to ensure that the government of Lebanon would restore its effective authority in the area. The 1978 South Lebanon conflict came in the context of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War.
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The 1978 South Lebanon conflict, also known as the First Israeli invasion of Lebanon and codenamed Operation Litani by Israel, began when Israel invaded southern Lebanon up to the Litani River in March 1978. It was in response to the Coastal Road massacre near Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 1,100–2,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, 20 Israelis, and the internal displacement of 100,000 to 250,000 people in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces gained a military victory against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the latter was forced to withdraw from southern Lebanon, preventing it from launching attacks on Israel from across its land border with Lebanon. In response to the outbreak of hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 425 and Resolution 426 on 19 March 1978, which called on Israel to immediately withdraw its troops from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The South Lebanon Army or South Lebanese Army, also known as the Lahad Army or as the De Facto Forces (DFF), was a Christian-dominated militia in Lebanon. It was founded by Lebanese military officer Saad Haddad in 1977, amidst the Lebanese Civil War, and evolved to operate as a quasi-military during the South Lebanon conflict, basing itself in Haddad's unrecognized State of Free Lebanon.
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The Khiam detention center was an army barracks complex originally used by the French military in the 1930s in Khiam, French Lebanon. Following the establishment of independent Lebanon in 1946, it was used by the Lebanese military until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, during which time it came under the control of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), an Israel-backed Lebanese Christian militia. With the beginning of the South Lebanon conflict in 1985, the base was converted into a prisoner-of-war camp and used to hold captured anti-Israel activists and militants. Those were mainly members of the Lebanese Communist Party, the Amal movement, and other leftist organizations. The facility remained in use in this capacity until Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 and the subsequent collapse of the SLA. After the Israeli withdrawal, the camp was preserved in the condition it was abandoned in, and converted into a museum by the Lebanese government.
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