Iran has escalated its missile campaign against Israel by firing a warhead packed with cluster munitions — the first reported use of the controversial weapon in the ongoing war, according to Israeli military officials.

Israeli news reports quoted the Israeli military as saying the missile’s warhead split open at an altitude of about 4 miles (7 km) and released around 20 submunition within a radius of around 5 miles (8 km) over central Israel.

One of the small munitions struck a home in the central Israeli town of Azor, causing some damage, The Times of Israel military correspondent reported. There were no reports of casualties from the bomb.

“The terror regime seeks to harm civilians and even uses weapons with wide dispersal in order to maximise the scope of the damage,” Israel’s military spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, told a briefing.

“They are egregious weapons with their wide-area destruction, especially if used in a civilian-populated area and could add to the unexploded ordnance left over from conflicts,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group.

Cluster bombs are strongly criticised because they spread many small explosives over a wide area, and many do not explode right away, creating long-term dangers for civilians. Israel’s military quickly gave public warnings, including clear alerts about the risk of unexploded bombs.

Iran and Israel declined to join a 2008 international ban on the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of cluster bombs that has been signed by 111 countries and 12 other entities.

The US in 2023 supplied Ukraine with cluster munitions for use against Russian occupation forces. Kyiv says Russian troops also have fired them. The three countries declined to join the Convention Against Cluster Munitions.

With inputs from Reuters

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