[2] Located around ten kilometres east of Sderot and surrounded by a nature reserve, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council.

Due to its remote location, the settlement faced significant economic challenges and was founded and abandoned three times before being permanently reestablished in 1944.

[5] The sale was only able to proceed after pressure was applied to the Ottoman authorities in Constantinople[2] and was facilitated through the mediation of the Jewish Colonization Association and a notable from Gaza.

[4] Due to this arrangement, the limited fruit yield caused by water scarcity,[10] and a devastating locust plague in 1915,[2] Ruhama’s initial settlement phase was financially unviable; by the end of 1917, despite substantial investments from Moscow, Ruhama had accumulated over 200,000 Francs in debt and was repossessed by the Anglo-Palestine Bank.

[11][12] The active settlement phase had already ended shortly before: during World War I, Zionist guards from the organizations Hashomer and HaMagen were stationed in Ruhama.

The economy is based on four agricultural branches: field crops, irrigated cultivation, orchards and henhouses, but many of Ruhama's members work outside the kibbutz.

Atar HaRishonim (אתר הראשונים,"Site of the Pioneers"), located just outside the perimeter fence of the kibbutz, marks the place where the early settlers built the first houses and dug a well.