Photo: OCHA/Viktoriia Andriievska.
Western politicians and media are facing accusations of hypocrisy over their responses to the recent shelling of a children’s hospital in Ukraine compared to their reactions to similar incidents in Gaza.
In the case of Kyiv, politicians from Europe, including NATO countries, have vehemently condemned Russia for allegedly shelling the hospital. Russia, however, denies these allegations, claiming the hospital was struck by a misfired NATO-supplied anti-missile defense system. Malawi24 could not independently verify the source of the attack due to conflicting reports from geolocation and missile experts.
The contrasting response to hospital attacks in Gaza has drawn significant attention. Western leaders have often accepted Israel’s explanations or refrained from criticism. For instance, the Anglican-supported Shifa Hospital was razed by Israeli forces, resulting in widespread condemnation from international humanitarian organizations. Despite this, many Western governments either accepted Israel’s justifications or remained silent.
The most notable exception was South Africa, which took Israel to the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) following allegations of genocide. Additionally, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza by Israel with US and UK-supplied missiles.
However, Biden criticised the two institutions for the decisions, and said the US rejected the accused against Israel.
“Contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), what’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that,” Biden said in his speech.
Critics argue that this discrepancy in reactions exposes a double standard in how the West addresses human rights violations, selectively responding based on political alliances rather than the nature of the offenses.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is meeting over the Kyiv hospital attack.
Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, told the UN Security Council that the missile attacks “severely damaged the intensive care, surgical and oncology wards of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital”.
“Its toxicology department – where children receive dialysis – was completely destroyed” said Msuya.
These attacks struck key energy infrastructure, as well as two of the country’s main specialist hospitals for children and women.
It is understood that Russian attacks also struck key energy infrastructure
