Some 48 hours prior, the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA), which had operated the jail, dramatically collapsed as Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon suddenly unravelled. Chanting "Freedom! Freedom!" as they stumbled into the light, the liberation of Khiam's prisoners was a powerful event marking the chaotic withdrawal of Israel's forces and the disintegration of its proxy militia, many of whose fighters subsequently fled with their families to Israel or abroad.