Over the last several weeks, Iran has begun habitually firing missiles containing cluster munitions at Israel, raining dozens of small bomblets over urban areas and sowing chaos and destruction.

The submunitions, which can challenge air defenses, lack the explosive power of conventional warheads, but still pack a punch strong enough to destroy small buildings, flip cars, and maim or kill those in their way.

Though directed at Israel, the deadliest such attack has not been suffered by Israelis, but by West Bank Palestinians, who often find themselves in the path of Iran’s imprecise weaponry and without the protections Israel affords its citizens.

On March 18, four women ranging in age from 17 to 50 were killed when an Iranian cluster bomb slammed into a West Bank salon where they had been preparing a Ramadan break-fast meal. Nine other Palestinians were wounded in the strike, including a 4-year-old girl.

The incident shook the town of Beit Awwa in the southern West Bank, home to around 15,000 residents. More broadly, it exposed what locals describe as a lack of protective infrastructure and awareness among Palestinians in the West Bank regarding the threat of Iranian missile fire.

While Israelis receive warnings of incoming missiles to their phones and have community-wide sirens telling them to head to a protected space or seek cover, Palestinians have no such system and uneven access to the alerts sent by Israel’s Home Front Command. Most only learn of the danger by hearing the wailing of air raid sirens emanating from nearby settlements.

But even when they are warned, the bigger problem is finding somewhere to shelter from the incoming fire.

“We hear the sirens from the nearby settlements, but there are no shelters,” said Mahmoud Barhoum, mayor of the West Bank town of Beita, which was struck by missile fragments last week. “Where are people supposed to go?”

A resident of Beit Awwa told The Times of Israel that those in the Hebron area town also hear the air raid sirens from nearby Israeli settlements. But even so, many still do not know how to respond or how best to protect themselves.

According to the resident, who asked not to be named, Palestinians are also largely unaware of the danger posed by munitions even after they impact. Following the deadly cluster bomb attack, well-meaning residents gathered at the site, unaware of the dangers that could still be posed by unexploded ordnance, the resident recalled.

“My sister, who works with the Red Crescent, and I went there to move people away, so that nothing would happen if there was an explosion from parts that had not detonated when the missile hit. But no one was aware of the danger,” she said.

When Iran launches missiles at Israel, the IDF’s Home Front Command sends early warnings to a wide area where sirens could sound in a few minutes, and once the projectile nears, it activates sirens in any area determined to be at risk of getting hit by a missile, interceptor, or fragments from either.

In addition to sounding the early warnings and sirens from public loudspeakers, notifications with the information are also sent to phones in the relevant geographic area that have the Home Front Command app, which is freely available to Palestinians or anyone else.

During the deadly Iranian attack that hit Beit Awwa, Home Front Command warnings were sent to much of the southern West Bank, as well as parts of southern Israel.

Anyone in the village with the Home Front Command app would have received an alert, but its unclear how widespread its use is among Palestinians. Those who spoke to The Times of Israel said they typically hear warnings only from sirens blaring in nearby settlements and not from their phones.

In the same way, Israeli air defense systems shield Palestinians in the West Bank as a byproduct of the protection they provide to Israeli communities. Because most settlements are in close proximity to Palestinian population centers, and given the wide impact zone of ballistic missiles, attempts are made to intercept any threat heading toward the area.

But air defenses are not perfect, especially against cluster warheads, and even intercepted missiles can continue to pose a threat to anyone caught outside of a reinforced structure.

A few hours after the deadly attack on Beit Awwa, the northern West Bank town of Beita was pelted by debris from an intercepted missile.

Barhoum, the mayor, told The Times of Israel that one piece of debris struck a home directly, wreaking enough damage that the house is now slated for demolition.

Another fragment hit a high-voltage power line, briefly cutting electricity to the village.

Nobody was injured, though that was far from guaranteed given the lack of protective infrastructure, which Barhoum described as the most serious problem.

The issue is one shared by all Palestinian areas.

Though Israel commonly built public shelters in its cities throughout its history, it has never done so in Palestinian areas governed by its military administration.

Since 1992, Israeli law has required the construction of a bomb-safe room in every new home. Around the same time, the Palestinian Authority was established and began managing civilian affairs for most Palestinians in the West Bank, including housing construction.

Unlike Israel, the PA did not build public shelters or require them in newly constructed homes. It has not publicly explained the decision, though it is likely rooted in a long-held perception that missiles and rockets targeting Israel do not pose a threat to Palestinians.

In the part of the West Bank where building is overseen by Israeli authorities, safe rooms are mandated in new residential construction, including for Palestinians, a Defense Ministry representative said. However, Israel rarely approves new housing for Palestinians in areas under its control.

According to Barhoum, the lack of shelters is “not only in Beita, but anywhere in Palestinian Authority areas in the West Bank. There is not a single shelter.”

In Beit Awwa, which is adjacent to the Green Line, the four women had been inside a modular structure made of aluminum. The walls were likely thin enough that they would have heard the siren sounding from the nearby Israeli town of Shekef. But they were also too thin to provide any protection from the cluster munition about to rain death upon them.

The Iranian missile campaign has created a new reality for West Bank communities, which have rarely been hit by rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza or Hezbollah from Lebanon.

In contrast to the relatively short-range projectiles launched by those terror groups, Iran’s ballistic missiles are launched from some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away, and are usually aimed without precision.

The result is that Palestinians are facing, for the first time, a sustained missile threat.

In October 2024, when Iran fired a massive volley of hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel, the sole direct fatality was a man in Jericho who was hit by a fragment from an intercepted missile.

During the June war, no Palestinians were killed, though missile fragments fell in the West Bank on several occasions.

In the current war, even before the deadly incident in Beit Awwa, numerous pieces of debris from intercepted missiles fell across the West Bank.

The Palestinian Interior Ministry said that between March 7 and March 12, teams from the Palestinian police, civil defense rescue units, and the Red Crescent responded to missile fragments that fell in the districts of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus, and Salfit.

As of March 22, there were 198 incidents involving falling debris in the West Bank, Palestinian police said. Pieces can range from shards as small as a hand to fuel tanks the size of a bus.

Aside from the four women killed in Beit Awwa, Palestinian police also attributed a fifth death to the attacks, after a man watching a missile attack fell from a tall building. Authorities did not specify where or when the incident occurred.

Barhoum noted that, beyond protective infrastructure, there is an urgent need for adequate medical facilities to treat casualties in the event of further attacks.

Visiting the mourning tent for the four women killed in Beit Awwa — Mais Razi Masalma, 17, Sahra Razek Masalma, 50, Amal Matawa, 46, and Aseel Masalma, 32 — Fatah spokesperson Maher al-Namoura used the opportunity to urge Palestinian leaders to provide more and better medical equipment.

Namoura, joined by the local governor, said more advanced medical equipment was needed at the hospital in the nearby town of Dura, where the wounded were taken. He also called to expedite the completion of additional hospital wards.

The construction of shelters was not mentioned.

The PA only began issuing guidance regarding what to do during attacks following the Beit Awwa deaths, underscoring the degree to which the tragedy may be shifting perspectives regarding the dangers of missiles.

In advice published by the Palestinian interior ministry, residents were told that, given the security situation, they should “remain in safe places, stay away from impact sites, and avoid gathering there.”

The statement did not specify what constituted safe locations.

Barhoum said that he has been advising residents simply to remain inside during missile attacks. He said he had not received any instructions from the PA on this matter, in his capacity as mayor.

It remains unclear to what extent the deaths and the new guidance may change behaviors, with protective options largely lacking for even those who would heed the warnings.

But at least some are now taking the threat more seriously.

“To be honest, I was one of those people who, when there was a siren, would go outside to see where the missile was landing,” said one Beit Awwa resident who asked to remain anonymous. “Now, after what happened, it’s clear I won’t go outside anymore. I will go to the nearest [safe] place available and tell others to do the same.”

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