Hezbollah and Iran launched a coordinated attack strategy on Tuesday, a national security expert claimed, after reports emerged that deadly cluster munitions hit Israel in synchronized attacks.
The developments unfolded on Day 11 of Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion, the joint US-Israeli campaign targeting Iran, and marked a potential escalation of the expanding regional conflict.
“Most of Hezbollah’s missiles and drones are launched simultaneously with Iranian missiles,” he said.
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Explosions resulting from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Israel confirmed Tuesday that Iran has fired cluster munitions — adding a complicated and deadly challenge to Israel’s extensive air defenses. The Associated Press reported.
The warheads burst at high altitude, scattering dozens of smaller bombs over a wide area. The smaller bombs, which can look like orange fireballs at night, are difficult to intercept and have proven deadly.
“Iran’s use of cluster missiles and the perception that they are deliberately targeting civilians and civilian facilities should be considered a use of non-conventional weapons, and the US-Israeli response must be appropriate,” Michael stressed.
The weapons have been banned by more than 120 countries under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and are widely condemned for their large-scale, indiscriminate effects that often result in catastrophic harm to civilian populations.
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Smoke and dust rise after an Israeli attack on the southern outskirts of Beirut, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran and Lebanon. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Michael spoke as Reuters reported that Hezbollah was applying lessons from its last war with Israel as it prepared for a possible full-scale Israeli invasion and protracted conflict.
Sources claim that the group is returning to its roots in the guerrilla war in southern Lebanon.
“Operating in small units, fighters from the Iran-backed group avoid using communications equipment that could risk Israeli eavesdropping and are rationing the use of key anti-tank missiles when attacking Israeli forces,” the sources, familiar with Hezbollah’s military activities, said.
Michael also said that the “north of the country, towards the Haifa area, is being heavily bombed.”
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Hezbollah terrorists take part in cross-border raids, part of a large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta, bordering Israel, on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Israeli civilians have to spend most of their time in the shelters because Hezbollah and Iran are deliberately targeting civilians and civilian facilities,” he said.
“Tel Aviv is still subject to an emergency procedure, with the sirens on and many people spending a lot of time in the bomb shelters,” he added, before emphasizing that “Israel is a small country and will not be able to continue to manage such asymmetry and this kind of war of attrition.”
As of Tuesday evening local time, the IDF said it had launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
This came after the army reiterated its warning to evacuate the area, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh.
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In a message shared on X, the IDF said: “This is what we are operating against.”
Reuters sources also claimed that much of Hezbollah’s fighting on the ground had so far been concentrated near the town of Khiyam, near the intersection of Lebanon’s borders with Israel and Syria.
This is an area where Hezbollah believes an Israeli land invasion could begin. Hezbollah’s elite Radwan fighters, who withdrew from the south after the 2024 ceasefire, had also returned to the area, the report said.
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A man carries shoes from his destroyed home that was hit by Israeli airstrikes on several houses in the village of Sir al-Gharbiyeh in southern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo)
“Israel will undoubtedly take control of a large area in southern Lebanon, from the international border to the Litani River, to establish a security buffer zone,” Michael said.
“This will deter Hezbollah from attacking Israeli towns and cities in the north of the country and will intensify attacks on Hezbollah throughout Lebanon,” Michael added.
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“We hope that President Trump will not stop or use the formula he used with the Houthis by declaring victory and not allowing the wounded lion to retaliate and/or repair itself.”
Meanwhile, an Israeli military official, speaking anonymously under army rules, said Tuesday that about half of the projectiles Iran fired at Israel were now cluster bombs, according to the Associated Press.
