Israel army says Iran using cluster munitions
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Trails from interceptors glow amid an air raid warning about incoming missiles from Iran in Tel Aviv, Israel, early on March 7.
PHOTO: AMIT ELKAYAM/NYTIMES
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JERUSALEM – Israel on March 6 said Iran had launched cluster bombs “multiple times” since the start of the war that began with a US-Israeli attack on the Islamic republic
Cluster munitions explode in midair and scatter bomblets. Some of them do not explode on impact and can cause casualties over time, particularly among children.
Iran and Israel are not among more than a hundred countries that are party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the use, transfer, production and storage of cluster bombs.
The Iranians “are using cluster munitions”, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani told a news briefing, without providing details on when or where those munitions were allegedly launched.
“They’ve used it multiple times, which is a war crime when it’s directed towards civilians, and we’re tracking that situation,” Lieutenant-Colonel Shoshani said.
AFP footage from the evening of March 5 showed a swarm of flaming projectiles falling in the darkened sky over central Israel.
Israel’s military said the video showed cluster bombs.
Mr Etienne Marcuz, a strategic armaments expert at France’s Foundation for Strategic Research, said the footage appeared to show cluster munitions carried by a medium-range ballistic missile, which was “most likely” Iranian.
Israeli police on March 4 said bomb disposal experts found evidence of cluster munitions after incoming missiles from Iran were detected.
Impact sites are generally closed to the public including journalists until they are cleared of missile debris and unexploded ordnances.
Police published a public service announcement on March 6 in which one of its bomb disposal technicians explained the dangers of cluster bombs including unexploded ordnance.
Both Iran and Israel have been accused of using cluster munitions.
During a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, Amnesty International said the Islamic Republic used such munitions at least three times, based on analysis of photos and videos as well as media reports.
In 2007, a US government investigation found that Israel had probably violated arms export agreements with Washington when it dropped US-made cluster bombs among villages in Lebanon during its war with militant group Hezbollah in 2006. AFP
