How are words that begin with an elided hamza (hamzat al-wasl) and have the definite article "al-" prefixed to them, such as "ism/al-ism," pronounced? And is it always pronounced "li-sm" regardless of its position in the sentence?

The word "اسم" (ism - name), when defined with "ال" (al - the), is pronounced "lism." This is how all the reciters (Qurra') recited the Almighty's saying: (بِئْسَ الاِسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمَانِ) "Evil is the name of wickedness after faith." Similar words like "الاستخراج" (al-istikhrāj - extraction), "الانطلاق" (al-intilāq - setting off), and "الاقتدار" (al-iqtidār - capability) are treated the same way.