The Battle of Zikim occurred on 7 October 2023 when Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades attacked the Israeli kibbutz and military base at Zikim during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
At 4:40 AM on 7 October 2023, Hamas sent multiple boats from Gaza to launch an amphibious attack on the Israeli town of Zikim. The Israeli 916th Patrol Squadron destroyed two rubber boats and two other boats, but the other Hamas boats landed on Zikim beach as Hamas terrorists breached the Gaza barrier south of the Bahad 4 military base. Hamas soldiers stormed the Bahad 4 training facility, where they fought against soldiers who had been in the IDF for only 4 weeks. Veteran soldiers battled the militants as less experienced recruits took cover; after several hours of fighting, Bahad 4 was penetrated and lost. Hamas militants moved towards the kibbutz but were defeated by armed civilians, some of them off-duty officers. On the morning of 8 October, the 916th Patrol Squadron killed 5 Hamas militants on the Zikim beach, and, on 10 October, Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants near the Trans-Israel pipeline junction.