Half of the Iranian missiles fired at Israel in this war spray numerous small explosives over their targets, expanding the radius of possible damage and casualties though presenting less of a direct danger than traditional warheads, according to the Israeli military.
The spread of cluster-munition strikes has prompted some experts to suggest Tehran is trying to keep up a rate of fire and signal defiance in the face of its US and Israeli foes even as its capabilities are stretched.
Each submunition, or bomblet, is roughly the size and weight of a thermos flask. Two dozen are packed into a warhead and scatter when it breaks up some 7 km (4 miles) above the ground. That has lent a barrage effect to single missile launches by Iran, whose overall intensity has decreased over 13 days of fighting.
Two construction workers were killed by a submunition on Monday, authorities said. Tumbling earthward on random trajectories to a radius of 10 km (6 miles), the bomblets evade Israel’s advanced interceptors while setting off sirens widely. Another worry for police has been finding and dismantling duds before they can imperil passersby.
The allegations underscore the war’s human toll, which has shaken financial markets and left thousands dead in its first two weeks. More than 2,500 people have been killed in Iran and Lebanon, including nearly 200 at a school in Iran’s Hormuzgan province early in the conflict. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus in residential areas of Lebanon since it began striking Iran-aligned Hezbollah, calling the practice “unlawfully indiscriminate” under international humanitarian law.
“Iran appears to be launching them into relatively populated areas, probably with the goal of of producing potential civilian harm,” said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.