‘I advocate for thousands’: US Open winner Coco Gauff calls for peace in Gaza

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open women's singles champion, called for an end to fighting in Gaza.

"I feel like it's very ignorant to say you're not aware because it is everywhere, you see it on the news and I think it's important for us as privileged civilians to do our research and just continue to demand our leaders to make a change and I will not advocate for that," Gauff told UAE state-owned newspaper The National at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships.

"And I do advocate for peace and I advocate for the thousands, I think it's almost like I said millions at this point, of kids and innocent people being killed for a conflict that I feel shouldn't be happening," she added.

The 19-year-old American said that she knows “there's not much I can do other than raise awareness and donate.”

"So that's what I encourage everyone to do and just pray for peace and demand peace and demand that this stops happening," she added.

Playing at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, Gauff became the 2023 US Open women's singles champion by beating Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final last year.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 29,200 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.