This operation was supposed to be the jewel in Israel’s crown, the result of impressive, painstaking intelligence collection mapping out the vast network of Hamas tunnels in the northern section of the Gaza Strip, including the fortified, fully equipped bomb shelter for the organization’s leadership. The Islamist group had little idea that everything it was digging underground over the years was being documented by Israeli intelligence in order to compile a bank of bombing targets for future use. Israel had also devised a series of sophisticated ruses designed to force Hamas commanders to flee underground into what the military was dubbing the “metro,” where they would be buried by heavy bombs bringing the tunnels crashing down on their heads.

On May 13-14, one of Israel’s top brass made what would turn out to be a hasty decision. The military launched its deception maneuver, which included spreading rumors of an imminent Israeli ground offensive in northern Gaza. The rumors were bolstered by the spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who issued an official announcement in the pre-dawn hours of May 14 broadly hinting at such an operation. The idea was to lure all the Hamas leaders into the tunnels where they would prepare to take on the invading enemy forces, allowing Israel to bomb them all.

Hamas, however, did not fall for the ruse. Its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, head of its military wing Mohammed al-Deif, his deputy Marwan Issa and others did not believe the IDF would be launching a ground offensive and risk the lives of many soldiers just days after starting its relatively surgical aerial and artillery bombing campaign. Instead of hundreds of Hamas leaders, commanders and fighters rushing into the tunnels, only a few dozen hunkered down there. As of this writing, it is still unclear how many were killed, but the meticulous plan the IDF had prepared appears to have been wasted. The tunnels have caved in under the force of the depth charges, but those who ordered their digging are very much alive.

The IDF is trying to look at the “bright” side. The way IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi sees it, Israel has deprived Hamas of its strategic underground assets. Before the start of what Israel has codenamed Operation Guardian of the Walls on May 10, Hamas believed its people could find refuge when the time came in the underground city it had built at tremendous expense over the past decade. However, precision Israeli munitions demolished this safe space, based on equally precise intelligence. The Hamas underground option is no more.