Ankara, Aug 24(HS):

Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan has appealed to Melania Trump to raise her voice for children suffering in Gaza, drawing parallels with the former US First Lady’s advocacy for Ukrainian children during Russia’s invasion.

In a letter released by the Turkish presidency on Saturday, Mrs Erdogan described Gaza as a “children’s cemetery,” urging Mrs Trump to “extend her advocacy” to Palestinians and directly press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the humanitarian crisis.

The appeal comes alongside new UN-backed data showing famine in Gaza City, where more than 640,000 people face “catastrophic conditions” through September. The report warns malnutrition now threatens 132,000 children under five, with Gaza’s health ministry reporting over 114 child deaths from hunger.

Israel has rejected the famine assessment, accusing food security experts of bias and reliance on Hamas-provided data. Meanwhile, heavy bombardments continue, with the health ministry reporting 61 deaths in the past 24 hours, including children lost to both airstrikes and starvation.

Gaza’s ongoing war has claimed more than 62,000 lives since Israel launched its campaign following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. Once again, Emine Erdogan, who usually champions environmental causes, has stepped into humanitarian advocacy — calling on world leaders’ partners to collectively raise their voices.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar