Turkish First Lady Emine Erdoğan has written to US President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, urging her to contact Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to raise the plight of children in Gaza, authorities in Ankara said on Saturday, August 28, Reuters reported.
Emine Erdoğan wrote that she was inspired by the letter from US First Lady Melania Trump, which her husband delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska summit on August 15, regarding Ukraine and Russian children.
“I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children … will be extended to Gaza as well,” Emine wrote, according to a letter released by the Turkish presidency dated Friday.
“These days, when the world is experiencing a collective awakening and the recognition of Palestine has become a global will. I believe that your call on behalf of Gaza would fulfil a historic responsibility toward the Palestinian people,” Emine’s letter added.
Reuters reported that a global hunger monitoring organization determined on Friday, August 22, that Gaza City and its surrounding areas were officially suffering from famine and that it was likely to spread later, increasing pressure on Israel to send more humanitarian aid.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the organization’s report as “completely false” and said that Israel has a policy of not causing starvation.
According to Israeli figures, the Gaza War began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking nearly 250 hostages. According to Gaza health authorities, more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations in retaliation against Hamas since then.
Reuters’s reporting contributed to this article.