[citation needed] 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.

[6] In 2006, Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired a Qassam rocket from northern Gaza that hit a mattress factory in Zikim.

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.

[14][15] A squad of six Hamas terrorists arrived at the kibbutz driving the Israeli military vehicle that had been abandoned on the beach.

[15][16][17] 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.