El-Khatib was elected to parliament in the 1971 Chouf parliamentary by-election, after the death of his father Anwar el-Khatib (the incumbent Sunni parliamentarian from Chouf).[3][4][5] He was reelected to parliament in the 1971, 1992, 1996 and 2000 elections.[1] He was one of two Lebanese parliamentarians to vote against the 1983 May 17 Agreement.[6]
He served as Minister of State for Administrative Reform between December 24, 1990 and May 16, 1992, in the cabinet of Omar Karami.[7][8]
As of 2018 el-Khatib served as chairman of the Lebanese Committee for Support to the Reunification of Korea.[2]