‘Very difficult to stop’: BBC visits scene of Iran cluster bomb strike on Israel

Very difficult to stop

The attack on a residential building in central Israel occurred in the early hours of the night, when a cluster bomb from Iran shattered the ceiling of an elderly couple’s home and detonated within their living room, resulting in both fatalities. The remnants of the strike, now buried beneath ash and debris, reveal the path of the missile. A gaping hole in the apartment’s top floor ceiling indicates where it pierced through, hurling broken concrete and metal rods inward. The back walls are riddled with shrapnel marks, showing the explosion’s power, which obliterated the front of the unit and left it exposed to the street.

Air defenses fall short

Inside the wreckage, a mobility aid lay overturned beneath collapsed furniture and rubble. Sigal Amir, who resided in the adjacent apartment, recounted her experience in a safe room during the strike. “We heard three noisy interceptions, but on the fourth, we knew it was our house,” she said. “There was a massive boom, and I felt a sharp pain in my ear from the blast.” She noted that the neighbors, just five meters away, had their door torn off and their home filled with dust, akin to a snowfall. The couple was not in the shelter at the time, as one had difficulty moving.

“We had dozens of impact points like this in central Israel,” said Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, describing the scene. He added that while missiles carrying cluster bombs were often intercepted, the weapons themselves remain a challenge. Each missile can deploy 20 to 80 munitions, making them “very difficult to stop.”

Despite Iran’s missile campaign, direct casualties in Israel have been relatively low, with only 14 people killed so far by such attacks. Nine of these deaths occurred in a single strike in Bet Shemesh during the war’s early stages. However, the increased use of cluster bombs has raised concerns, as they spread over a wider area and are harder to counter. The US-Israel operation, now in its 19th day, has targeted military sites, oil facilities, and infrastructure, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana), which reported 1354 civilians and 1138 military personnel killed since the conflict began.

Israel claims to have destroyed over 70% of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, suggesting the attacks are diminishing. Yet, the persistent alarms that force Israelis into shelters daily, combined with the growing reliance on cluster munitions, have stirred unease among some in the population. “To be honest, in the last days I’m losing hope a little bit,” Sigal Amir said while sheltering. “I feel there’s no end to it, no direction, and we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

A regional power in the making

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed the conflict as the climax of a long-standing struggle against regional adversaries. He emphasizes Israel’s military dominance, asserting that the war has already transformed the Middle East and solidified Israel’s status as a regional force. However, the war remains asymmetric, with Iran leveraging US concerns over oil prices, casualties, and the security of Gulf allies to push for a resolution.

Meanwhile, Israel’s efforts extend to a second front against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group in Lebanon. After the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, Hezbollah joined the conflict, intensifying attacks on Israeli forces. Lebanon’s health ministry reported 912 fatalities and hundreds of thousands displaced due to Israeli operations. This week, ground forces advanced into southern Lebanon following evacuation orders, prompting the US to consider a deal with the Lebanese government to de-escalate tensions.