When the French colonial rulers proclaimed the new State of Greater Lebanon under the guardianship of the League of Nations represented by France on the first of September 1920, the first municipality in Tyre was founded and headed by Ismail Yahia al-Khalil, Kazem al-Khalil's father. In the following years, the Mandatory regime gave Shiite feudal families like al-As'ad and al-Khalil "a free hand in enlarging their personal fortunes and reinforcing their clannish powers."Altogether, even compared to other clans"The Khalils, with their age-old ways, [..] were known for being particularly rough and hard."Within this competitive context, Kazem al-Khalil earned himself a reputation as a "tough" power player.
