Iran cluster bomb strikes Bnei Brak — 9 wounded including 6 children; bomblets hit residential buildings

Seven people were injured by Iran's cluster munition strike on central Israel, Magen David Adom confirmed. A 23-year-old man was treated in moderate condition after being hit by shrapnel in Bnei Brak; six others including an infant and an 80-year-old woman were in good condition after being struck by glass shards. All seven were taken to hospitals. Additional bomblets struck the nearby city of Petah Tikva with no injuries reported there. Damage was caused to several residential buildings in both cities. Bnei Brak is a densely populated ultra-Orthodox city of approximately 200,000 people immediately east of Tel Aviv. Petah Tikva (population ~240,000) is adjacent to Bnei Brak. The cluster munition attack on a densely populated urban area represents a significant escalation in weapons type and civilian targeting. This is the second confirmed Iranian cluster munition use on Day 25 — the first was near Nesher in northern Israel. The use of cluster munitions in civilian residential areas violates international humanitarian law norms, though Iran has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.