'As a mother ... ': Turkish first lady's letter to Melania Trump on Gaza children

Emine Erdogan called on her US counterpart to speak out on the suffering of Ukrainian children

Turkey's First Lady Emine Erdogan wrote a letter to her US counterpart Melania Trump, urging her to show concern for children in Gaza. Photo: White House

Turkey's first lady, Emine Erdogan, has written a letter to US counterpart Melania Trump in which she urges her to show the same concern for the children in Gaza as she did for those in Ukraine.

She asked US President Donald Trump's wife to write a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show mercy to Gaza's children.

In a letter presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska Summit this month, Ms Trump had appealed to him to make peace in Ukraine for the sake of the children there.

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"I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children who have lost their lives in the war will be extended to Gaza as well, where, in the span of two years, 62,000 innocent civilians, including 18,000 children, have been brutally killed," Ms Erdogan wrote.

"As a mother, as a woman, and as a human being, I deeply share the sentiments expressed in your letter, and I hope that you will give the same hope to the children of Gaza, who also yearn for peace and tranquillity," Ms Erdogan added.

A global hunger monitor determined on Friday that Gaza city and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, and it will likely spread, escalating pressure on Israel to allow more aid in the war-ravaged enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed that report as an "outright lie", and said Israel had a policy of preventing, not causing, starvation.

Since Israel's aid blockade began in March, cutting off food and water supplies, the situation among women and children has severely deteriorated.

Malnutrition had already affected more than 132,000 children under the age of five by June, including 41,000 severe cases, the UN said.

“Today, the words 'unknown baby' written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children who have no one left behind them and whose names cannot even be identified are leaving irreparable wounds on our consciences,” Ms Erdogan wrote.

The White House has not yet commented on the letter.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine during the war, which is in its fourth year. Turkish ties with Israel have also dropped to their worst since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

On Tuesday, Mr Erdogan accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon in Gaza, saying the images coming from the Palestinian enclave were worse than "Nazi camps".