Extend advocacy to Gaza children, Turkish first lady urges Melania Trump

Turkey’s First Lady, Emine Erdoğan, has appealed to US First Lady, Melania Trump, to raise her voice for children caught in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In a letter released by the Turkish presidency on Saturday, Mrs Erdoğan praised Mrs Trump’s past efforts in highlighting the plight of Ukrainian children during Russia’s invasion, but urged her to “extend the advocacy” to Gaza children and Palestinians suffering under Israel’s ongoing military campaign.

“Gaza has turned into a children’s cemetery,” Erdoğan wrote, calling on Mrs Trump to join international efforts to spotlight the suffering.

“We must unite our voices and strength against this injustice,” she added.

Her intervention comes amid grim warnings from UN-backed food security experts, who say more than half a million people in Gaza City are already facing famine, while 132,000 children are threatened by severe malnutrition.

“The phrase ‘unknown baby’ written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children opens irreparable wounds in our consciences,” Erdoğan said, urging compassion and solidarity from global leaders’ spouses.

The Turkish First Lady asked Mrs Trump to demonstrate the same sensitivity to Palestinian children as she had to Ukrainian children, and further encouraged her to use her influence to directly appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an end to the crisis.

Mrs Erdogan also encouraged Mrs Trump to appeal directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.

The Turkish first lady does not usually involve herself in politics, more often choosing to be active in environmental issues, which has earned her praise from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

But Mrs Erdogan has written letters to the partners of world leaders in the past, in 2016 on behalf of Syrians caught up in civil war and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza in March.

The letter was published in the wake of a damning report into the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report 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.

In Friday’s report, the IPC noted the particular toll food shortages had taken on children – roughly one in three in Gaza are acutely malnourished.

It also projects that up to June 2026, malnutrition will threaten the lives of 132,000 children aged under five.

The Hamas-run health ministry has said 112 of the 273 people who have died from malnutrition are children.

Israel denies there is famine in Gaza. It also accuses IPC experts of being biased, changing its methods for assessing famine, and using data coming from Hamas. The IPC has rejected this criticism.

The report comes as Israel prepares to launch a new military offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City.

Israel’s military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.

(BBC)

ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE