Last month, Iranian forces fired ballistic missiles whose warheads contained submunitions into populated residential areas of Israel, in attacks endangering civilians. Amnesty International analysed photos and videos showing cluster munitions that, according to media reports, struck inside the Gush Dan metropolitan area around Tel Aviv on 19 June.

In addition, the cities of Beersheba, southern Israel (20 June), and Rishon LeZion, to the south of Tel Aviv (22 June), were also struck with ordnance that left multiple impact craters consistent with the submunitions seen in Gush Dan. Such submunitions hit a school and basketball court in Beersheba, but no deaths or injuries were reported.

“Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that must never be used. By using such weapons in or near populated residential areas, Iranian forces endangered civilian lives and demonstrated clear disregard for international humanitarian law,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.

“Civilians, particularly children, are most at risk of injury or death from unexploded submunitions. Iranian forces’ deliberate use of such inherently indiscriminate weapons is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Customary international humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons, and launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.

Cluster munitions are conventional ordnance designed to disperse or release small explosive submunitions. Typically, such submunitions are launched and dispersed by rockets, artillery, or air-dropped containers, scattering ordnance over a wide area, sometimes as large as a football pitch, which often remain unexploded.

According to media reports, the warheads deployed by Iranian forces against Israel dispersed their payload several kilometres above the ground, spreading their submunitions over a very large area.

Many systems have high “dud” rates, leaving large areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance which can remain lethal for years or even decades after a conflict has ended.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which entered into force on 1 August 2010, bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions. Amnesty International has called on all states that have not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including Iran and Israel, to become a party to it and strictly comply with its terms.

Amnesty International sent questions regarding the use of cluster munitions to the Iranian authorities on 15 July 2025. At the time of publication, no response had yet been received.