Türkiye’s first lady urges Melania Trump to act for Gaza’s children in letter

Türkiye’s First Lady Emine Erdogan has called on Melania Trump to advocate for children suffering in Gaza, urging the U.S. first lady to extend the same support she has shown to young victims of war in Ukraine.

In a letter published by the Turkish presidency on August 23, Erdogan described Gaza as a “children’s cemetery” and appealed for unity in addressing what she called a humanitarian catastrophe. “We must unite our voices and strength against this injustice,” she wrote, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media. 

Erdogan praised Melania Trump’s previous efforts to highlight the plight of Ukrainian children caught up in Russia’s full-scale invasion. She asked her to “extend the advocacy” to Palestinians, adding: “The phrase ‘unknown baby’ written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children opens irreparable wounds in our consciences.”

The letter further urged Trump to “show the same sensitivity to Gaza that you have shown to Ukrainian children who have lost their lives in the war” and to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly to “end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

The appeal comes against the backdrop of worsening conditions in the enclave. A UN-backed report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed a famine in and around Gaza City, warning that more than 640,000 people will face “catastrophic conditions” between mid-August and the end of September.

The IPC estimated that roughly one in three children in Gaza is acutely malnourished, projecting that up to 132,000 children under five will face life-threatening conditions through mid-2026. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has reported that of the 281 people who have died from malnutrition, 114 were children.

Israel has rejected the famine assessment, accusing IPC experts of bias, methodological changes, and reliance on Hamas-supplied data — claims the IPC denies.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry reported 61 deaths in the past 24 hours from Israeli airstrikes, as well as eight additional deaths from malnutrition. Palestinian news agency Wafa said 19 people were killed in a strike on a displacement camp in Khan Younis.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left about 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage. Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 62,122 people have been killed.

The war has displaced most of Gaza’s population multiple times, with over 90% of homes estimated damaged or destroyed. Healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene systems have largely collapsed.

While Emine Erdogan generally avoids overt political intervention, focusing instead on environmental issues — an area in which she has received praise from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — she has previously written to world leaders’ spouses. In 2016 she appealed on behalf of Syrians affected by the civil war and in March condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Earlier this month, Melania Trump herself sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, imploring him to consider the plight of children, though she did not reference any specific cases.

By Khagan Isayev