Iran using cluster bomb warheads in ongoing conflict: Israel military

NEW DELHI: The Israel military has revealed that Iran recently launched multiple ballistic missiles carrying cluster bomb warheads at Israel, indiscriminately spreading small bombs in wide areas of the country.

Cluster bombs or cluster munitions are weapons that release scores of small, explosive submunitions over a wide area, being designed for use against people and vehicles. 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, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF).




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 large zone, increasing civilian casualties and causing greater infrastructure destruction.

The IDF confirmed that Iran has launched ballistic missiles carrying cluster bomb warheads at Israel several times in the ongoing conflict, as well as in the June 2025 war. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen also launched several missiles with cluster bomb warheads at Israel last year.

Last Tuesday, submunitions from a cluster bomb warhead hit several locations in central Israel, wounding 12 people, Israeli medics said. Footage on Sunday also showed two dozen fragments streaking through the sky after a cluster bomb warhead scattered bombs in central Israel.

Israeli experts have indicated that Iran might have received help from external sources for the deadly missiles. There is speculation of possible transfer of military technology from either Russia or China.

Some of the submunitions do not explode upon hitting the ground, but they can still pose danger to people. The IDF Home Front Command has, therefore, warned people not to approach any missile remains they may find on the ground, which can effectively act as landmines.

To date, a total of 123 countries have committed to the goals of a 2008 convention banning cluster munitions. The US, Russia, China, India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea are among countries that have not signed the convention. The text of the 2008 convention says cluster bombs “kill or maim civilians, including women and children, obstruct economic and social development… impede post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction (and) delay or prevent the return of refugees and internally displaced persons… for many years after use.”