HRW: Hezbollah Used Banned Cluster Munitions in Northern Israel

The March Attacks and Residential Impact in Metula

The March 4 bombardment struck a residential street near the cemetery on the southern side of Metula. According to Human Rights Watch, local resident Hagai, 57, and his family took shelter as air raid sirens sounded at approximately 4 p.m. Multiple explosions rocked the neighborhood immediately after they closed their shelter doors. Israeli soldiers subsequently barred residents from leaving their shelters until the following day to allow military personnel to clear unexploded ordnance from the area.

The strikes caused extensive material damage, destroying two family cars beyond repair, puncturing water pipes, shattering 12 windows, and depositing a live submunition directly onto the roof of Hagai’s home. Similar dangers paralyzed the town following the second attack on March 15, which targeted the entrance of Metula. City authorities used a residents’ security WhatsApp group to warn locals of the hazard, prompting the military to impose a 24-hour lockdown while hazard clearance teams operated.

Evidence and Weapon Identification

Human Rights Watch researchers visited Metula in May to analyze impact sites and interview witnesses. Although local roads had already been repaved by municipal authorities, investigators identified multiple impact craters consistent with submunition dispersal patterns. Researchers also analyzed pre-repaving journalist photographs and geolocated a Telegram video from March 15 showing approximately 30 small explosions near the town entrance.

An Israeli police spokesperson published a report from Metula on March 4 featuring a photograph of an unexploded BRB1-type submunition. This specific submunition is dispensed from 122mm rockets, which typically contain between 45 and 56 individual bomblets. Witness accounts estimating roughly 50 impacts on March 4 align with the capacity of the BRB1 delivery system. While Hezbollah claimed responsibility on social media for rocket attacks against Metula on those dates, the group denied possessing or using cluster munitions when questioned by Human Rights Watch.

Legal Status and International Humanitarian Law

Patrick Thompson, crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, emphasized the severe legal implications of deploying these weapons. “Cluster munitions should not be used under any circumstances, and their use may amount to a war crime,” Thompson stated. “Not only are they inherently indiscriminate, but unexploded submunitions can kill and injure civilians long after hostilities conclude.”

While the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions comprehensively bans these weapons and has been ratified by 112 states—including Lebanon—it does not formally bind non-state armed groups like Hezbollah. Nevertheless, international humanitarian law strictly requires all combatants to distinguish between military objectives and civilians, taking constant care to spare civilian populations. Intentionally directing cluster munitions into populated areas violates the core principles of precaution and distinction under the laws of war.

The broader regional conflict has inflicted catastrophic human and physical tolls. According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,381 people in Lebanon—including 261 children, 399 women, and 135 medical workers—following an escalation that began in March 2026. Simultaneously, Israeli military evacuation orders have displaced over one million Lebanese citizens. In northern Israel, Hezbollah rocket attacks between March and June killed two civilians, as reported by the Times of Israel on June 30, with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights noting that unguided rockets were fired directly into populated areas.

The persistent danger of unexploded duds leaves a lethal legacy in border communities long after ceasefires take hold. As international bodies continue to document violations of the laws of war by all parties, the long-term remediation of contaminated soil remains an urgent challenge for civilian safety across the region.