In justifying its first raid, Israel said that underneath the hospital lay a complex network of tunnels, a central command center for Hamas. Evidence produced from that raid— caches of weapons, a tunnel leading to small, rusty quarters that appeared out of use, and no scores of militants found — fell far short of the claim . Hagari said Monday that the intelligence had been wrong and that Israel had tipped off Hamas militants at Shifa by announcing its attack plans.
“They left there because they knew we were coming,” he said. “And this time, we did something else.”
By doubling back to Shifa in mid-March, he said, forces surprised militants who had regrouped inside.
He said the military now believes militants operated mainly from the hospital wards themselves, not tunnels underneath.