Iranian missiles injure at least 8 people in Israel

TEL AVIV: At least eight people were injured in Israel on Sunday (Mar 15) following repeated missile launches from Iran, at least two of which contained cluster munitions according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli police released footage from a CCTV camera in the Tel Aviv area showing an impact on a road, saying that it was from "cluster munitions" that caused "damage at several locations". 

Bomblets and shrapnel from the missile wounded four people in various parts of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, according to the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service.

A man in his sixties was hospitalised with moderate injuries to his head from broken glass, while three others were treated due to the shock waves from the blast.

In another barrage shortly before noon, two men aged 62 and 44 reported minor injuries "from pieces of asphalt that struck them as a result of the blast", according to MDA.

During a salvo toward the Tel Aviv area at around 3am local time (9am Singapore time), a man and a woman in their 80s suffered light injuries from glass shards and smoke inhalation, respectively.

Another Iranian missile directed at Israel's southernmost city of Eilat was intercepted before reaching the target, without causing injuries. The municipality of Eilat quoted security sources saying it was a cluster missile.

By late midday on Sunday, seven missile salvos were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel, some of which were intercepted.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday accused Iran of targeting civilian areas, during a visit to the northern Arab Israeli town of Zarzir, hit two days prior by shrapnel from an Iranian missile that lightly wounded almost 60 residents.

"While we are targeting military objectives ... the Iranian regime is targeting civilians," Saar said.

"All the casualties we faced during these two weeks of confrontation...are civilians from Iranian missiles. This is, of course, a war crime," he added.

His words were echoed by police superintendent Shlomi Schlezinger while speaking near the site of one of the impacts on Sunday.

Iran is "always targeting crowded places, with people, the big major cities," he said in central Tel Aviv.

He attributed the relatively low number of Israeli casualties to civilians' adherence to safety instructions.

"We have a lot of collateral damage to cars and buildings, as you can see," he said.

"We're used to, in the last 16 days, to be in shelters and in safe rooms when we have the alarm."

According to Haaretz, citing security officials, 250 ballistic missiles had been fired by Iran at Israel as of Mar 13.

Twelve people have been killed in Israel by missiles or falling debris since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally of figures given by Israeli authorities and first responders.