Iran Missile Attack: 15 Injured, Cluster Munitions Hit Central Israel – 2026

Fifteen people were injured on Sunday, one of them seriously, when an Iranian ballistic missile dropped cluster munitions in central Israel, paramedics said, marking the Islamic Republic’s fourth ballistic missile attack since midnight. The barrage spread bomblets over a wide area encompassing Tel Aviv and nearby cities.

Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center-Ichilov reported treating seven people injured in the attack, with four listed in moderate condition. The Magen David Adom ambulance service stated the most severe injury it addressed was sustained by a 53-year-traditional man. Damage was reported to several homes and roadways as a result of the impacts.

In Jaffa, a projectile struck a residential building, and an impact in Petah Tikva ignited a fire in a residential area, though no one was seriously injured in either location. The first missile attack of the day, occurring around 7 a.m. Local time, was also assessed to have contained a cluster bomb warhead, causing damage to a road but no immediate reports of direct injuries.

Four additional attacks – two targeting central Israel and two targeting southern Israel – triggered sirens and sent hundreds of thousands of Israelis to bomb shelters, but did not result in any reported damage or direct injuries, according to reports.

Sunday’s attacks followed two direct hits the previous evening in the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, which injured hundreds and sent dozens to hospitals. As of Sunday morning, five people wounded in the Dimona impact remained hospitalized at Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, including a 12-year-old boy in serious condition who underwent surgery, and a man in his 20s in moderate condition. From the strike in Arad, 31 people remained hospitalized at Soroka, including 18 children. Two individuals lightly wounded in the strikes were receiving treatment at Sheba Medical Center.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 4,564 people have been taken to hospitals since the start of the conflict with Iran on February 28, though the ministry did not provide a breakdown of the causes of injuries, noting many were sustained while attempting to reach shelters.

Since the start of the war, 15 civilians and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel in Iranian missile attacks, along with four Palestinians in the West Bank. Farmer Ofer Moskovitz was killed Sunday, and two soldiers have been killed in Hezbollah attacks.

An investigation by the military’s Home Front Command revealed that most of those injured in the missile attacks Saturday night were not inside bomb shelters when the impacts occurred. In Dimona, a missile with a conventional warhead struck soft ground near homes, causing extensive damage. Those inside shelters were largely unharmed, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Similarly, in Arad, a missile struck a courtyard between apartment buildings with basement shelters, injuring nearly 90 people, most of whom were not sheltering.

The Israeli Air Force stated that air defenses engaged both projectiles, but failed to intercept them. According to the IAF, there was no connection between the failures in Dimona and Arad, and their occurrence in the same area within two hours was coincidental. The IAF identified the Iranian missiles as being from the Ghadr family of projectiles, a known threat. Two earlier missile attacks on the same area in southern Israel were successfully intercepted, the IAF said, asserting there was no “systemic failure” in Israel’s air defenses.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting Arad, described it as a “miracle” that no one was killed and urged residents to shelter when sirens sound. “If everyone had gone to protected areas in time, to the shelters that are there under every home, no one would have been wounded,” he insisted, noting that of the 15 people killed by missile attacks since the start of the war, only one incident involved a direct hit on a protected area.

Netanyahu also responded to Iran’s long-range ballistic missile attack on the UK-US Indian Ocean military base at Diego Garcia over the weekend, stating Iran has “the capacity to reach deep into Europe” and is “putting everyone in their sights.” He condemned recent Iranian attacks that resulted in shrapnel falling near holy sites in Jerusalem, asserting they were targeting the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“If you want proof that Iran endangers the entire world, the last 48 hours have given it,” Netanyahu said. He added that Israel was responding “with great force, but not on civilians,” targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its leaders and economic assets.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, also visiting Arad, insisted that Israel must continue the war until it achieves “the elimination of all of Iran’s ballistic capabilities.” He noted that Beersheba’s Soroka hospital, where many of those wounded were sent, is still operating at a reduced capacity following an Iranian ballistic missile strike on its surgical ward last June.

More than 400 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran at Israel since the start of the war, with the IAF reporting a 92 percent interception rate of attacks heading for populated areas and key infrastructure. In total, five missiles carrying conventional warheads have struck populated areas in Israel, causing extensive damage in four cases. There have also been more than two dozen incidents of missiles carrying cluster bomb warheads hitting populated areas, resulting in over 100 separate impact sites.