More than 3 months after the conclusion of Operation Guardian of the Walls, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admit that only a handful of Hamas operatives were killed in the military’s broad assault on the defensive so-called “metro” tunnels in the north of the Gaza Strip.

This comes in contrast with earlier estimates, which assessed the operation led to at least dozens of casualties.

The “Lightning Strike” plan was planned for over 3 years by the Southern Command. This operation, which was originally designed for a war scenario, had several targets -- the chief being destroying Hamas’ defensive tunnels and killing hundreds of the terrorist organizations’ members.

According to expectations, Hamas operatives were supposed to enter the tunnels following the entry of IDF troops into the Palestinian enclave.

However, the IDF did not enter the Strip as commanders assessed the plan could still bring about 100 casualties.

The Israel Air Force struck some 150 subterranean infrastructure targets, as the IDF initially thought the attack was successful. But inquiries of the operation had eventually led to the conclusion that only several Hamas members had been killed.