Iranian cluster bomb hits empty kindergarten in Rishon Letzion

Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon continued to fire missiles at Israel on Saturday, wounding at least one person and damaging property, including a kindergarten in the central city of Rishon Letzion.

The morning strike in Rishon Letzion was caused by a cluster munition whose bombs struck 11 sites in the city.

“We were lucky there were no children here. A major disaster was averted,” Deputy Mayor Avi Haim was quoted as saying while visiting the scene.

The mayor, Raz Kinstlich, told Ynet that as long as incidents such as this can occur, the city will not reopen its education system.

“Tell me if you would send your children to a kindergarten like this. Granted, it’s Saturday, but it could have happened on a Sunday [when schools are open]. Look at the time of day this happened—children were supposed to be there,” Kinstlich was cited as saying.

Shamir Medical Center (formerly Assaf Harofeh Medical Center), located in the nearby city of Be’er Ya’akov, said that a man in his 40s was lightly wounded by the shock-wave from the cluster bomb, the report added.

Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the kindergarten and told reporters at the scene that the country’s education system will be reopened in a controlled manner, avoiding unnecessary risks while allowing the economy to function.

“I came to strengthen the mayor of Rishon Letzion and the residents of the city. There are 11 impact sites in the city as a result of the use of this weapon [a cluster bomb],” public broadcaster Kan quoted Katz as saying.

“This is a war crime, but it is not surprising because the Iranian regime is a terrorist regime. The fighting will continue as long as necessary; there are very significant achievements. The amazing and unprecedented cooperation between Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and [U.S. President Donald] Trump, on both the diplomatic and operational levels, needs to continue. We are doing everything to eliminate Iran’s offensive capabilities,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces posted images and footage on X of the damage in Rishon Letzion.

Soon after the Iranian attack, Hezbollah in Lebanon fired 10 rockets at northern Israel, with one projectile scoring a direct hit on a building in the Jewish state’s northernmost town of Metula. No injuries were reported.