Israeli authorities are investigating a missile strike in central Tel Aviv that may have involved a weapon breaking into several parts before impact.

The Israeli government’s press office described the incident as a direct hit from a ballistic missile.

A police commander in the Tel Aviv area also told a local Israeli television station that the impact involved what he described as a “splitting missile.”

The description has raised the possibility that the weapon may have been a type of cluster munition. These weapons contain smaller explosive “bomblets” that separate from the main missile and spread across a wider area after the initial explosion.

Israel has previously accused Iran of using similar munitions earlier in the conflict and during the 12-Day War last June.

Cluster munitions are banned by more than 100 countries under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, although Iran, Israel and the United States are not signatories to the treaty.

At the scene of the explosion in Tel Aviv, a CNN reporter said investigators are examining debris believed to be part of the missile.

“Debris still falls in central Tel Aviv even after interceptions. One key piece behind me here that investigators are poring over, one official here telling us that it seems to perhaps be one of the warheads we’ve noticed that appear to split in the sky and send off separate fragments down. Now nobody as far as we understand injured in this location but it’s a sign that despite the fact we’ve seen probably less missiles overall fired by Iran over the past days, it only takes one even with the sophisticated air defences here to cause some havoc in a scene like this.”

The reporter, in to a CNN video, added that the strike has drawn attention from investigators trying to determine whether the weapon signals a change in Iran’s missile capabilities.

“But across the region the focus perhaps now turning as it’s clear Iran’s missile capacities have come down on their ability to wreak havoc closer to Iranian shores with drones that are hitting around the but the scene behind me here is still one of intense scrutiny as I think they try and work out if this marks some kind of new development in Iranian missile technology.”

No fewer than 140 persons are missing after an Iranian navy ship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan navy says around 180 people were on board, with 32 rescued.

A spokesperson told the BBC the cause of the sinking was not known. But US Defence Secretary (Secretary of War) said that the US submarine sank Iranian warship with torpedo in Indian Ocean.

Hegseth says that in the Indian Ocean, the US sank “an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters”.

“Instead it was sunk by a torpedo,” he says.

Hegseth did not name the Iranian ship that was attacked.

But earlier, the Sri Lankan navy reported the IRIS Dena went down in the Indian Ocean, with around 140 people on board missing.

Hegseth says “more waves” are coming

This “was never meant to be a fair fight, and it’s not a fair fight”, says Hegseth, adding that the US was punching Iran “while they’re down”.

“More and larger waves are coming, we are just getting started,” he said

Hegseth says Iranian regime are “toast”

Hegseth said the results over the past four days had been “incredible, historic really”.

“They are toast, and they know it,” he said referring to the Iranian regime.

He added that US forces had begun to “hunt, dismantle, demoralise, destroy and defeat” the regime’s capabilities.

He said that Iranian leaders would be looking up and seeing only “US and Israeli air power” until US and Israel decided the war was over.

“America is winning,’” says Hegseth

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said “America is winning, decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.”

“We are only four days in”, he said, but “as Trump has said” the US “will take all the time we need” to make sure the operation is a success.

BBC

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has declared the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement a “marked target” following overnight rocket fire from Lebanon.

Katz said on X that Hezbollah chief, Naim Qassem, had acted on orders from Iran in launching attacks on Israel and warned that the group would “pay a heavy price.”

Qassem succeeded Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon in September 2024.

The Israeli military said several rockets were fired from Lebanon overnight, with one intercepted and others landing in open areas.

Hezbollah said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on Saturday.

In response, Israel said it carried out fresh strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including weapons depots and other infrastructure.

The military reported bombardments in Beirut and elsewhere, saying senior militia members were among those hit.

Meanwhile, residents near the office of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reported no signs of a missile strike on Monday, after Iran claimed it had targeted the building.

The residents said that prime minister’s fate was unknown.

Air raid sirens sounded around noon in the Jerusalem area, as well as in several regions across central and southern Israel.

In spite of the alerts, local police and rescue services said there were no reported hits, injuries, damage or interceptions over Jerusalem.

Residents living close to the prime minister’s office said they had not witnessed any missile impact in the vicinity.

Reporters at the scene observed no visible presence of military personnel, police forces or emergency responders outside the compound.

Traffic in surrounding streets continued as normal, with no smoke seen rising from the area.

The building appeared intact and undamaged.

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Iranian statement.

Israeli media commentators dismissed the claim.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Channel 12 News, described it as “fake news” in a post on Telegram.

Suleiman Maswadeh, chief diplomatic correspondent for the State-owned Kan, also said on Telegram that the claimed lacked corroboration.