In recent years, the IDF has identified a trend – that Hamas will move its activists into the many kilometers of tunnels under Gaza in times of emergency – and has developed a plan for turning the tunnels into a death trap for Hamas combatants in the event that another high-intensity round of fighting broke out. It appears that military intelligence managed to crack open Hamas’s secret and systematically map the network of tunnels and underground headquarters which were built at great cost. However, the army was only able to reap limited benefit.
The idea for the operation was first formulated in 2016, with the final, more polished form, completed two years later. The original plan called for the destruction of tunnels serving hundreds of Hamas fighters who would take shelter there during a war. The idea was that after such a blow, if inflicted, Hamas would have to desist from further combat.
In November 2018, after a special-ops unit ran into trouble in Khan Yunis, with the death of Col. M., then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman recommended to the cabinet that the plan be implemented in response to the firing of hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip into the Negev.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eisenkot (who was the mastermind behind the plan) objected. Eisenkot felt it was more urgent to destroy the offensive tunnels that Hezbollah was secretly building under Israel's border with Lebanon. Lieberman resigned over the dispute and Eisenkot's operation on the Lebanese border, "Operation Northern Shield," took off a few weeks later.
Last August, Defense Minister Benny Gantz asked the army for plans that would help bring about a victory in the south. The plan went through several stages, including a name change. With the beginning of the current flare-up last Monday, preparations were made to execute the plan during this campaign. On Thursday night, close to midnight, the order came to carry it out.
In a massive airstrike, large portions of the tunnel network in the northern Gaza Strip were destroyed. The strike was aimed at several battalions. Hamas was deprived of a key asset, its confidence in being able to operate underground, where its leaders believed they were immune from Israeli strikes.
Alongside the impressive showing by the army, which is being stressed again and again by Netanyahu and the IDF in their statements, it’s worth noting the military is refusing to commit to a specific casualty count of Hamas fighters killed in the attacks. The aim was for hundreds - but it is worth noting that no claims like that were made by Hamas and no one in Gaza is lamenting the loss of scores of fighters. Hamas, in fact, has not even said they are looking for missing people as they did in a much smaller attack earlier this week.
Netanyahu speaking to reporters on Thursday.Credit: Yuval Chen / AFP
Sources in the defense establishment admitted Friday that the timing of the attack was a huge gamble as it was unclear whether the armed Hamas militants were actually inside. In other words, Israel played one of its strategic cards against Hamas – a secret operation prepared for years in advance – at a time when they could only reap limited value from it. If it will be enough to end the fighting, the gamble may eventually be deemed a success.
The current casualty toll seems modest and a far cry from the numbers that were circulating in Israel about mass deaths in the tunnels. Netanyahu, who initially planned a big press conference, made do with a short and cautiously worded video. But not all his mouthpieces got the message in time: one of them tweeted about the genius maneuver led by him and the IDF chief, but quickly deleted it. Mainstream media took longer to get the message.