Turkish first lady urges Melania Trump to speak out on Gaza

Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan has sent a letter to US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, urging her to reach out to Israel's prime minister and raise the plight of children in Gaza.

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 on Friday that was published by the Turkish presidency.

The Turkish first lady said that Melania Trump's appeal reflected "shared feelings of humanity".

"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 wrote.

Emine Erdogan noted in her letter that more than 62,000 people, among them 18,000 children, have been killed by Israel in Gaza over the past two years. She urged Melania Trump to call on Netanyahu "to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza".

A UN-backed global hunger monitor determined on Friday that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, and that it will likely spread.

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The Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC) applied the classification to an area home to 514,000 displaced Palestinians - nearly a quarter of Gaza's population. It marks the fifth time the IPC declares a famine since it was created more than 20 years ago.

According to the UN, the entire population under five in the Gaza Strip - more than 320,000 children - are at risk of acute malnutrition, due to a lack of safe water, breastmilk substitutes and therapeutic feeding. 

Over 270 people have died from malnutrition in Gaza since Israel's war on the enclave began in October 2023. That includes at least 112 children.

Netanyahu dismissed the IPC report as an "outright lie", and claimed that Israel had a policy of preventing, not causing, starvation.

Emine Erdogan ended her letter by stressing that children in both Ukraine and Palestine are equally entitled to safety, happiness and a secure future.