Caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad said Wednesday that 12 people were killed after paging devices used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon a day earlier, adding that some wounded were treated in Syria.

"After checking with all the hospitals," the toll was revised to 12 dead, Abiad told a news conference, putting the number of wounded between 2,750 and 2,800.

The pager was the first compact mobile communication tool to appear on the mass market and although smartphones have largely pushed it out, some people still use the reliable technology today.

Pagers were in the spotlight on Tuesday after hundreds of the devices used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon exploded simultaneously across the country in a first-of-its-kind attack that the group blamed on Israel.

Hundreds of paging devices used by members of Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon in an attack that killed at least nine people, including a child, and wounded 2,800 more.

The blasts dealt a heavy blow to the group, which blamed its arch-foe Israel for the attack.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin discussed heightened Middle East tensions with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Tuesday, saying it is important to reduce them, the Pentagon announced.

The call between the defense chiefs came on the same day that hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded in an attack the Lebanese militant group blamed on Israel, but the Pentagon declined to say whether the explosions were discussed.

The United States has said it was not aware in advance and had no involvement in mass explosions of pagers used by Lebanon's Hezbollah, as it urged restraint by Iran in response.

"I can tell you that the U.S. was not involved in it, the U.S. was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we're gathering information," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Fourteen people were wounded in Syria on Tuesday when pagers used by Hezbollah exploded, a Britain-based war monitor said, adding to a toll of at least eight dead and 2,750 wounded in Lebanon.

"Fourteen people whose nationalities are unknown have been wounded in Damascus and its countryside after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that some of its members had been wounded in pager blasts in neighboring Syria, without specifying how many.

Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to punish Israel after hundreds of paging devices used by the militant group's members exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others.

Major airlines Lufthansa and Air France have announced suspensions of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday as tensions in the region soared following pager explosions in Lebanon.

German group Lufthansa said it was suspending all flights to Tel Aviv and Iran's capital Tehran while French airline Air France suspended flights to the Israeli city and the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to punish Israel for a deadly attack in which hundreds of paging devices used by the militant group's members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the wave of explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others.

A Taiwanese company and its Hungarian partner on Wednesday reportedly denied making pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon.

The New York Times, citing American and other anonymous officials, reported that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Taiwan's Gold Apollo.