BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanon’s health ministry expressed surprise and said it would seek clarification after Kuwait inscribed several private hospitals in the Mediterranean country on its “terror” list on Sunday.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry issued a circular indicating that it had listed the eight hospitals as part of regulations related to “combating terrorism.”

The facilities are all owned or run by Hezbollah or affiliated organizations, and are located in south and east Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs — all strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group, which Kuwait’s circular did not mention.

Lebanon’s health ministry said it received the Kuwaiti statement “with great surprise,” adding it had not been provided with “any information or notification from any Kuwaiti entity about this matter.”

“The hospitals mentioned in the statement are registered with the syndicate of private hospitals in Lebanon and carry out their role in providing treatment and health services to all Lebanese without exception,” the health ministry statement said.

It called the facilities “an essential part of the Lebanese health system,” and said it would contact the relevant authorities to request clarification and “protect Lebanon’s health system.”

It noted that “Kuwait has numerous joint projects with the ministry... and has been among the most prominent countries that have stood by the health system during the successive crises that Lebanon has faced.”

The latest move was “unprecedented and inconsistent” with the Gulf country’s usual approach, it added.

The eight hospitals include two in Beirut’s southern suburbs, an area Israel heavily bombarded during hostilities with Hezbollah that largely ended with a November 2024 ceasefire.

They also include the Salah Ghandour hospital in south Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil, which is run by the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee.

The hospital’s grounds and its surroundings were struck in 2024 during the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Earlier this month, the ministry condemned what it called threats against south Lebanon hospitals after reports the Israeli military had dropped leaflets warning residents that Hezbollah operatives were using a hospital in Bint Jbeil.