STOP Israeli state terrorism with sanctions, campaigners demanded today in the wake of the pagers attack in Lebanon.

The call came after pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded nearly simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and wounding around 2,800. 

Multiple explosions were reported today at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by the pagers.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, which it said were walkie-talkies detonating.

There was no news on casualties as the Morning Star went to press.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for Tuesday’s attack, which also triggered a wave of condemnation internationally.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project responded to what it called “Israel’s latest escalation” by pointing out that “this attack amounts to state terrorism, must be internationally condemned and result in major sanctions on Israel.”

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German branded the attack “an indiscriminate act of state terrorism.”

“There is a dangerous escalation of war going on in the Middle East and it comes from Israel. Not content with genocidal attacks on Gaza, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is determined to wage war across the region,” she said.

“The complicity of our government and the silence over these attacks from​ it and the US shows that the Western powers will do nothing to stop this.

“Opposition must come from the people of the region and the solidarity and anti-war movements in Britain and across the world.”

As concern spread about the widening of the conflict, Commons foreign affairs committee chairwoman Emily Thornberry joined those expressing anxiety.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Thornberry, who was dropped from Sir Keir Starmer’s top team after the general election, said: “We are really concerned about what is happening now in Lebanon.

“I think the big question is: why? Why is this happening now? And what will the result of that be?

“It seems to be yet another escalation of the conflict which is happening in the Middle East, which will affect all of us. And it is very worrying indeed, of course it is, and what the response will be? And is this the first step, and what will Israel do next? Is it part of a larger plan?”

Ms Thornberry added: “It is very worrying and I would certainly be expecting Israel’s friends to be speaking very seriously to them and saying: ‘What on Earth are you doing? Why is this happening now?’”

The Foreign Office was more muted, saying that the “civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time.”

There was also condemnation from across the globe.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attack in “friendly” Lebanon “represents a serious challenge to international law.”

She added that “the organisers of this high-technology attack purposefully sought to inflame large-scale armed confrontation, seeking to provoke a big war in the Middle East.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his sadness at the attack during a phone call with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, according to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

In Ireland, Deputy Premier Micheal Martin called the explosions a breach of the Geneva conventions.

He told reporters in Dublin: “This is a new form of warfare. I think we have to be extremely worried and concerned about that and the international community needs to reflect on the nature of the attack.”

Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammad Wissam al-Murtada said his country’s “victory” over Israel was imminent.

In a statement on the X social media platform, he said there were no limits to Israel’s evil and that the pager attack had proved its “hostility to humanity.”

Hezbollah warned in a statement that it intended to continue strikes against Israel as part of a support front for its ally Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.

“This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday,” it said. “This is another reckoning that will come, God willing.”

Hezbollah also said that movement leader Hassan Nasrallah would give an address on the latest developments on Thursday.

There has been no comment on the attacks from Israel, which have been involved in cross-border exchanges of fire with Hezbollah since last October. But the attack came just a day after the Israeli war cabinet announced that stopping Hezbollah attacks was now one of the government’s official war aims.

Israel deployed more troops to its border with Lebanon today, according to an official with knowledge of the movements.

The United States, Israel’s main military backer, insisted that Washington had been given no prior warning of the attacks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was still gathering facts but it was in no-one’s interest for conflict to spread.

“It’s imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict,” he added.

Mr Blinken did not say who the US believed was behind the blasts, but Israel has form for such attacks. 

In 1996, its domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet assassinated leading Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash by sabotaging his mobile phone, which blew up and killed him instantly.

Explosives experts say a number of Hezbollah’s pagers did not explode and have been recovered intact. These are now being forensically examined.

For the Shi’ite movement, the pagers provided a means to sidestep what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance of mobile phone networks in Lebanon.

Mr Nasrallah warned in a February speech that “the phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device.”

The pagers reportedly carried the logo of Gold Apollo, but the Taiwanese company said that a Hungarian firm called BAC Consulting KFT, based in Budapest, had been given authorisation to use its brand on the pagers.

“According to the co-operation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” a Gold Apollo statement said.

Experts believe the explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery.

Meanwhile, at hospitals in Beirut, the chaos of the night before had largely subsided, but relatives of the wounded continued to wait.

Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told journalists on Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes and that others had had limbs amputated. 

Mr Abiad said that the wounded had been sent to various area hospitals to avoid any single facility being overloaded, adding that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt had offered to help treat them.