Background For settlement history preceding the kibbutz, see
Hiribya: History. The
Late Neolithic Ziqim archaeological site is associated with the
Nizzanim culture. Ancient discoveries in Zikim comprise a
Greek graffito on the base of a high-quality plate dating from 144-160 BCE, and Greek inscriptions on Gazan jars from the 6th to early 7th century CE. Hiribya was known in the medieval
Crusader period as La Forbie, site of the 1244
Battle of Forbie.
Kibbutz The kibbutz was established in 1949 on land that had belonged to the
depopulated Palestinian village of
Hiribya, by a group of young
Jews from Romania, who belonged to
Hashomer Hatzair before their arrival in
Mandatory Palestine in 1947 - at a time when Romania was on the verge of becoming a
Communist Bloc country. At that time, Jewish settlement in the Negev was very sparse, and each new location was considered to be a "point of light" (
zik) in the wilderness. Zikim attracted members of Hashomer Hatzair from around the world, most recently from
South America. British actor
Bob Hoskins, although not Jewish, worked as a volunteer in Zikim in 1967. During the 1970s, the Shiqma Reservoir was established near the kibbutz. In the process, most of the Late Neolithic Ziqim site near the shore was bulldozed. In July 2014, five armed Palestinians attempted to cross into Israel via the beach at Kibbutz Zikim. They were killed by IDF gunfire. On 7 October 2023, as part of an
attack on Israel,
Hamas terrorists
amphibiously assaulted the
Zikim training base and Zikim kibbutz. Hamas killed 19 civilians, 8 soldiers and left dozens wounded on the beach. The remaining Hamas terrorists from the beach were killed while attempting to enter the kibbutz. An emergency security team made up of civilians there had been alerted to the infiltration by the navy, and preemptively positioned themselves along a fence surrounding the kibbutz. A squad of six Hamas terrorists arrived at the kibbutz driving the Israeli military vehicle that had been abandoned on the beach. A firefight quickly ensued, and the terrorists dispersed, eventually being tracked down and killed after about an hour of combat. The security team remained at their positions until 2:30 the next morning, assisting in the evacuation of civilians and awaiting IDF reinforcements that never arrived. ==Economy==