By ISTANBUL, Aug 23 (AfrikTimes) – Turkish First Lady Emine Erdoğan has written to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, urging her to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the plight of children in Gaza, authorities in Ankara said on Saturday.
In her letter, Emine Erdogan said she was inspired by the letter Melania Trump sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month about children in Ukraine and Russia.
“I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children … will be extended to Gaza as well,” she wrote in the letter dated Friday and published by the Turkish presidency.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Palestinian boy extends an empty pot in front of a charity kitchen to receive cooked rice, in Gaza City, Aug. 23, 2025.
“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 Erdogan’s letter added.
Her appeal comes as a global hunger monitor on Friday declared Gaza City and surrounding areas officially in famine, warning that the crisis was likely to spread. The assessment has increased international pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed that report as an “outright lie”, and said Israel had a policy of preventing not causing starvation.
The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted around 250 others, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s military aggression has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, according to Gaza health authorities.
Emine Erdogan wrote that she had been inspired by the letter Melania Trump sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month about children in Ukraine and Russia. “I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children … will be extended to Gaza as well,” Emine Erdogan wrote in the letter dated Friday that was published by the Turkish presidency.
