Israel’s Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Roey Gilad, has made an urgent and pointed appeal to the Ghanaian government to leverage its “strong voice” in Africa to pressure Hamas into fully disarming, a critical, non-negotiable precondition for the successful implementation of the second phase of the Trump Peace Plan.
Speaking at a recent press briefing in Accra on the progress of the multi-phase peace initiative, Ambassador Gilad stressed that the future of Gaza and the security of Israel are now hanging on Hamas’ commitment to lay down its weapons, as agreed upon in the 20-Point Plan.
The Ambassador specifically called upon Ghana to use its diplomatic weight, noting the country’s existing commitment to stability through its participation in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where Ghana maintains an estimated 850-strong peacekeeping battalion and is one of the oldest and largest troop-contributing nations.
“Ghana is not just another state. It’s not just another one of the 54 states in the AU. It has a very strong voice… We expect now Ghana, which has a very strong voice in Africa, to use its own voice to echo through the AU and add its voice to the Arab states and all the European states and the United States that are calling that ‘Hamas, enough is enough.’”
Ambassador Gilad continued with a plea for the welfare of the Palestinian people, stressing that Hamas should not be part of Gaza’s future governance.
“The future of the Palestinian people is more important than the future of Hamas… They should not have a role in the future of Gaza. The future of Gaza should be, in the long run, in the hands of innocent Palestinians who would like to live next to Israel and not instead of Israel.”
Ambassador Gilad underscored the existential security concerns facing Israel, contrasting its small size with Ghana’s territorial expanse to highlight its vulnerability.
“This small piece of land of Israel is 10 times smaller than Ghana. Ghana is 250,000 square kilometres. Israel is less than 25,000 square kilometres… often people in the world think that Israel is a superpower… No, that’s not the case.”
The Ambassador clarified that the peace plan, brokered under the sponsorship of President Donald Trump, is structured in three phases.
The first phase, which included Israel’s limited redeployment and the release of living Israeli hostages by Hamas, is largely complete. However, the second phase is facing a major roadblock: the disarmament of Hamas.
“The biggest challenge is the disarming of Hamas… It seems to us that they have no intention to disarm… For us, this is one of the most important parts of the agreement, of the 20-point agreement.”
Phase two requires Israel to pull back further to the pre-October 7th border lines, short of a one-to-two-kilometre military perimeter, in exchange for Hamas disarming.
This demilitarised area is then expected to be governed by a Special Peace Council, reportedly headed by President Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, overseeing a technocratic Palestinian committee and an International Stabilisation Force (ISF).
Ambassador Gilad warned that Hamas’s apparent refusal to disarm threatens to halt the entire process.
“If Hamas will not disarm itself, Israel will not pull back to the international border, short of the perimeter… Without it, the second phase will not be completed unless they disarm themselves.”
He referenced the precedent set by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 2005, which disarmed fully following the Good Friday Agreement, stating, “That can happen here.”