Iran using missiles with cluster bomb warheads to target Israel, says IDF

Jerusalem: The Israel Defence forces have revealed that nearly half of the 300 ballistic missiles launched by Iran at Israel carried cluster bomb warheads

The IDF said that on Tuesday most of the missiles were intercepted, but one carrying a large warhead had exploded in an open area outside Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. No injuries were reported.

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Cluster bomb warheads indiscriminately spread dozens of sub munitions, each with several kilograms of explosives, over a radius of around 10 kilometres. Use of the munitions is banned under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, whose signatories do not include Israel, Iran or the US.

After US-Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iran, the Islamic nation has responded by launching hundreds of missiles and drones across the region, including at Israel. Iran's strikes in Israel have killed 12 people and wounded over 2,000, according to Israeli health authorities.

Earlier, the Israel Defence Forces said that they had conducted an additional wave of airstrikes targeting assets and storage facilities of the Hezbollah affiliated Al-Quard Al-Hassan Association in Lebanon, used to finance the purchasing of weapons and terrorist salaries, as part of ongoing efforts to further degrade Hezbollah's military capabilities.

IDF also announced the elimination of Hassan Salameh, the Commander of Hezbollah's 'Nassar' Unit Salameh in a precise IAF strike in the Jwaya area. The Hezbollah commander the IDF said had held multiple key positions in the terror organization.

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Israeli Defence Forces on Tuesday (local time) also conducted a combined strike in Tehran and Tabriz, as per the details shared by the Israel Defence Forces. In a post on X, the IDF said, that the targets struck included a special unit's command centre in Tabriz, an "Imam Hassan" security unit military compound in Tehran, a command centre for the security unit responsible for ballistic missile launches & artillery fire, a command centre for the Intelligence and General Security Police in Maragheh Province and a large Basij forces compound in Tabriz.

The developments follow amid an escalating security situation in West Asia, which has resulted in the conflict being now expanded beyond Iran, with Iranian retaliatory strikes--using missiles and drones--targeting U.S. military bases, embassies, and civilian/energy infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.

The conflict has caused significant disruptions to global energy supplies, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, where approximately 20% of the world's oil transits.