Hezbollah’s use of cluster munitions against Israel may be war crime, HRW says in rare condemnation

SEPTEMBER 10, 2026 11:52Hezbollah’s use of cluster munitions in attacks on northern Israel on March 4 and March 15, 2026, may have constituted a war crime, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, in a rare condemnation of the terror group.Hezbollah launched the cluster munitions at civilian towns in northern Israel in response to the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, drawing Lebanon into renewed conflict. The terror group had already reinitiated hostilities on October 8, 2023, with intermittent ceasefires, in support of Hamas following the October 7 attack.A cluster munition is an explosive weapon that releases dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area and was used repeatedly by the Islamic Republic against Israel during the March war. Though Hezbollah’s cluster munition attacks did not result in civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch noted that cluster munitions can kill and maim for decades after they are used, as many submunitions fail to explode on impact and can act as landmines.“Cluster munitions should not be used under any circumstances, and their use may amount to a war crime,” said Patrick Thompson, crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Not only are they inherently indiscriminate, but unexploded submunitions can kill and injure civilians long after hostilities conclude.”The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which has 112 states parties and 12 more states have signed, prohibits the use of these weapons. Lebanon is a state party held to the treaty, though Hezbollah is not formally bound by it as a non-state armed group.A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of al-Haniyya shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese of al-Mansouri on September 7, 2026. (credit: KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images)Cluster munitions in civilian areas 'a flagrant violation of international law'“The use of cluster munitions in civilian areas is a flagrant violation of international law,” Thompson said. “Hezbollah and all parties to the conflict should abide by the laws of war.”Researchers from the NGO visited Metula in May and confirmed Hezbollah’s use of the banned weapon after analyzing impact sites and interviewing four witnesses.Though Hezbollah publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks on Metula in March, Hezbollah denied to Human Rights Watch that it had used or had cluster munitions in its possession.The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, HRW noted, has also confirmed that Hezbollah fired unguided rockets into populated civilian areas. These weapons indiscriminately kill and cannot distinguish between military and civilian targets, making their use a violation of the laws of war.Multiple civilians were killed or wounded by Hezbollah’s attacks between March and June.Hagai, a 57-year-old witness of Hezbollah’s March 4 attack, told the NGO that he remembered running to the shelter with his wife and two children at around 4 p.m. before hearing multiple explosions.On March 4, an attack struck a residential street on the southern side of Metula near the cemetery. Hagai, 57, whose full name is not used for his safety, lives in the town with his wife and two children, and said that he and his family ran to their shelter outside their house as they heard sirens at around 4 p.m. They were instructed by authorities to remain inside for a full day as the IDF cleared his neighborhood of submunitions that fell during the attack.The submunitions damaged his family’s two cars beyond repair, damaged 12 of his windows, cut two water pipes in half, and authorities located a submunition on his roof.Hagai told Human Rights Watch that he continues to worry for his children’s safety.“My son plays basketball here,” he said. “If the ball goes down the hill into the grass, I tell him to leave it. They checked the whole area for unexploded bombs, but who knows, I don’t know how thoroughly they can check the bushes.”Approx. 50 impact craters counted near MetulaHagai said the military counted approximately 50 impact craters. Though the road had been repaved by the time Human Rights Watch researchers arrived, the researchers were still able to identify seven impact craters consistent with submunition impacts. Having analyzed photos taken by journalists before the road was paved outside Hagai’s home, HRW also concluded that additional craters had been created by the attack.A house 50 meters from Hagai’s was also severely damaged, with the windows broken from the impact. The anonymous homeowner said that there were multiple unexploded submunitions collected from outside her home.HRW also found a photo released by Israel Police, showing an unexploded BRB1-type submunition from a 122 mm rocket, which held between 45-56 BRB1-type submunitions, credible even if they could not independently authenticate the image.Though unable to independently confirm the location of the photograph, researchers did not find a version of it uploaded online before March 4, and witness reports of approximately 50 submunition impacts in Metula on March 4 are consistent with numbers reportedly contained in the BRB1 delivery system, as are the craters Human Rights Watch analyzed.A witness to the March 15 attack also told HRW that she heard multiple simultaneous explosions and was instructed by the military to remain at home for 24 hours as the streets were being cleared of cluster munitions.By the time researchers arrived, the road had been paved over, but they were able to identify one crater consistent with a submuntiion.A geolocated video uploaded to Telegram on March 15 also showed approximately 30 small explosions around the entrance gate consistent with a cluster munition attack. Researchers were able to identify the area where witnesses reported seeing the cluster munition strike.Follow us on Google