Muhammad Qubaisi, author of a book on South Lebanon, writes that according to the Torah, Jacob moved his family and livestock to the plain of Al-Khiam, where he lived in tents.

In 1596, the village of Hiyam was an Ottoman 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.

[6] 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.

"[7] 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.

On 29 October, Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of the Khaim, marking their deepest push into southern Lebanon since launching a ground operation in September.