Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday, including at least one carrying a cluster bomb warhead, reported the Times of Israel. The attack marked the sixth salvo of the day targeting Israel.
Video posted on social media appeared to show what could be sub‑munitions from the Iranian cluster warhead falling over Israel. In the footage, several glowing objects can be seen descending separately across the sky, spreading out over a wide area.
Six people were injured, one of them seriously, at two impact sites in central Israel. Photos and videos from the scenes showed widespread damage, and more than a dozen impact sites were reported across the region. Police officials said the spread of the impacts indicated that the Iranian missile was likely carrying a cluster bomb warhead.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said search and rescue soldiers were dispatched to the scenes.
Cluster bombs or cluster munitions are weapons designed to release many smaller explosive devices, known as submunitions or bomblets, from a single missile, rocket, or aircraft bomb.
“The warhead of such missiles opens up while descending and scatters around 20 smaller munitions with around 2.5 kg of explosives in a radius of around 8 km,” the IDF said.
Unlike conventional missiles that explode in a single blast, these weapons burst open mid‑air, scattering dozens of smaller explosive bomblets across a large zone. Military analysts warn that the introduction of these weapons changes the dynamics of the conflict. Instead of a single explosion at one point, a cluster warhead can scatter many smaller bombs across a wide area, increasing civilian casualties and causing greater infrastructure destruction.
Israeli experts have indicated that Iran might have received help from external sources for the deadly missiles, with speculation of possible transfer of military technology from either Russia or China.
The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which entered into force in 2010, bans the use, development, production, acquisition, and transfer of cluster munitions. So far, 111 countries and 12 other entities have signed the treaty.
Why cluster bombs are tricky
Cluster bombs are among the most controversial weapons used in modern warfare because “once the main warhead opens in the air, the bomblets spread across a large area and detonate on impact.”
Designed to cover wide zones rather than strike a single target, cluster munitions cannot precisely distinguish between military and civilian targets, drawing strong criticism from humanitarian groups. Key features include hitting multiple targets at once, scattering dozens of bomblets over a large area, and increasing the risk of damage to vehicles, infrastructure, and people. Because the bomblets spread across a broad area, their use poses significant risks to civilians.
Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to track a single incoming projectile, such as a Grad or Fajr rocket. If the rocket carries a cluster warhead, it remains a single target for most of its flight. Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor uses a proximity fuse: when it gets close to the incoming rocket, it explodes, shredding the rocket’s casing with shrapnel. If hit early enough, the cluster submunitions inside can be destroyed or neutralized mid-air before scattering.
For long-range ballistic missiles, Israel relies on the Arrow Missile Defense System, which intercepts targets at high altitudes, often outside the atmosphere with Arrow 3.
Cluster warheads complicate missile defense because the small bomblets released over a wide area cannot be tracked individually by missile defense radars. Systems like Iron Dome or Arrow must attempt to stop multiple falling submunitions at once, increasing the chance that some may slip through.
One of the most serious risks comes from unexploded bomblets, which can remain on the ground like hidden landmines, posing long-term threats to civilians and emergency responders even years after a conflict ends.