 On 11 May 2001 he scored one goal in the FIFA World Cup qualification 2002 match against Laos the match was finished 9–0 for Syria.From 2012 to 2017, Al-Khatib boycotted the Syrian national football team to protest president Bashar al-Assad and his regime's bombing and starving of Khatib's hometown of Homs in response to massive peaceful protests in 2011.But on 23 March 2017, he re-joined Syrian national football team and showing full support of Al Assad

He wasn't in the final squad of AFC Asian Cup 2019 after getting injured about a month before the tournament, although, he claimed that he was capable of participating if the manager called him because his injury was minor and he could be part of the second match at least.