ANKARA

Gaza has become “the world’s largest orphanage above ground and a graveyard for children below,” Türkiye's first lady Emine Erdogan said Tuesday.

Erdogan highlighted the dire conditions faced by children in Gaza on Protective Families’ Day and condemned the continuous attacks by Israel. She demanded global solidarity to protect and support vulnerable populations.

She said at least 17,000 children have been left without their families in Gaza and have nowhere safe to go.

“Today, it is heartbreaking that in various parts of the world, children are living under terrible conditions, struggling to survive, let alone experiencing a nurturing family environment,” said Erdogan.

She underlined the severity of the situation, noting that 4,000 children are believed trapped under the rubble or missing.

Erdogan said Palestinian children, who have been subjected to atrocities by Israel that no conscience can justify, have opened wounds that will not heal in the souls of all the children of the world.

At least 37,900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 87,060 injured, since Tel Aviv launched a strike against the Palestine resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

*Writing by Yasin Gungor in Istanbul