What is a cluster bomb, weapon used by Iran against Israel?

On Thursday, the Israeli military and its embassy in Washington confirmed that Iran fired a missile containing cluster submunitions into central Israel. “Today, the Iranian Armed Forces fired a missile that contained cluster submunitions at a densely populated civilian area in Israel,” the embassy said in a statement via email to Reuters.

How the cluster munition exploded

According to an AP report, Israel’s Home Front Command asserted that one of the Iranian ballistic missiles fired Thursday morning had been “rigged with fragmenting cluster munitions”. Rather than a conventional warhead, a cluster munition warhead carries dozens of submunitions that can explode on impact, showering small bomblets around a large area and posing major safety risks on the ground, the AP report further said.

While the Israeli military did not say where that missile had been fired, reports suggest the warhead exploded at approximately seven kilometres above ground, scattering about 20 submunitions over an eight-kilometre radius.

Smokes rises from a building of the Soroka hospital complex after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran in Beersheba, Israel, on Thursday (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

One of the submunitions from the attack struck a home in the central Israeli town of Azor, causing material damage, according to The Times of Israel. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

In response, the Israeli Home Front Command issued a safety advisory via X (formerly Twitter), urging the public to exercise extreme caution. “This morning we experienced a missile strike capable of dispersing small munitions over a relatively wide area. It is possible that some of the munitions will remain on the ground and not explode. Do not touch any fallen objects or suspicious objects. Immediately call 100,” the advisory warned.

What are cluster bombs and why does the use raise an alarm

The email statement of the embassy added, “Cluster weapons are designed to disperse over a large area and maximize the chances of a harmful strike. Iran unlawfully fired deliberately at civilian population centers, and seeks to maximise the damage to civilians in them by using wide-dispersal munitions.”

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Cluster bombs differ from traditional ballistic missiles in that they release multiple smaller explosives—known as submunitions—over a large area rather than delivering one focused blast. A senior Israeli military official told The Times of Israel that while each individual submunition may be less powerful, their collective reach makes them significantly more dangerous in populated regions.

Because many submunitions fail to detonate on impact, they often remain active on the ground, posing a long-term threat to civilians who may accidentally trigger them.

Did Iran sign the cluster bomb ban?

The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, stockpiling, and production of such weapons, has been signed by 111 countries and 12 other entities. However, major military powers—including Iran, Israel, the United States, and Russia—have refused to join the treaty.

In 2023, the US supplied cluster munitions to Ukraine for use against Russian forces. Ukraine has accused Russia of deploying similar weapons in the ongoing war. Like Iran and Israel, neither country is a signatory to the convention.