By Mohamed Salim Rotea
Standing before a projected map of Gaza at the Israeli Embassy in Accra, Ambassador Roey Gilad opened with a geography lesson and a warning: “People in Ghana are used to huge countries… Israel is ten times smaller. If we make one mistake, it might be our last mistake,” he told a packed press room before addressing the Gaza campaign that he said had entered its final phase.
Figure 1. Map of Israel & Gaza on TV screen at The Embassy of Israel in Accra, Ghana.
Gilad recalled the October 7 attacks that precipitated the campaign and said Israeli forces had worked methodically since then to dismantle Hamas strongholds. He explained that the operation endured not from military incapacity but from deliberate restraint. “The only reason why this campaign is lasting two years,” he said, “is because of two things our 48 hostages out of the 251 that have been kidnapped, and the innocent civilian population in Gaza that Hamas is using as human shields.” He added that forces had cleared parts of Rafah and Khan Younis and were concentrating on what he called Hamas’s last bastion in Gaza City.
Transitioning to humanitarian concerns, Gilad insisted that Israel had allowed large volumes of aid into Gaza while accusing Hamas of diverting supplies. “We are endangering our soldiers to open more and more roads and more and more trucks. Two million tons of aid have entered Gaza since the last two years,” he said, asserting that even basic items had been stolen. At the same time, he rejected allegations of genocide, arguing that the prolonged effort undertaken to protect both hostages and civilians contradicted such charges. “If we didn’t care, the campaign would have been over in two months instead of 24 months,” he reiterated.
Figure 2. The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, Sierra Leone & Liberia, H.E Mr. Roey Gilad
Gilad also questioned the feasibility of an immediate two-state solution under current conditions. He described two Palestinian coalitions: Hamas, which he called “able but unwilling” to coexist with Israel, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which he characterized as “willing but unable” to govern effectively. He warned that instability in the West Bank including the seizure of rockets found there could threaten Israel’s airports and civilian infrastructure, heightening regional risk.
Turning to the human cost, Gilad returned to the issue of hostages and their families. “Those who are alive if I may call it life are being held under conditions worse than anyone would hold a dog,” he said, urging pressure on Hamas to disarm and release captives. He framed the rescue of hostages and the neutralisation of Hamas as Israel’s twin priorities for any lasting security.
Throughout the briefing, the ambassador appealed directly to African audiences, saying Israel sought honest dialogue with partners such as Ghana and that African voices mattered in international forums. “We want our friends and partners in Africa to know the truth about why we fight and what we stand for not just what is shown on TV,” he said, urging African states to press for disarmament and humanitarian access while resisting narratives that, he argued, obscured Hamas’s tactics.
Figure 3. A collage of photos of the hostages on a TV screen at the Embassy of Israel in Accra, Ghana.
Journalists and diplomats in the room listened closely as Gilad laid out a narrative that linked military operations, humanitarian effort and diplomatic outreach. Observers noted that his emphasis on civilian evacuations, hostage welfare and alleged aid diversion presented a combined security-humanitarian argument designed to counter criticism and to make a case for sustained international cooperation against militant groups.
As the press conference closed, the image of the map lingered: a small, densely populated strip that, the ambassador argued, made both military action and civilian protection uniquely fraught. “If we make one mistake,” he had said at the start, “it might be our last mistake” a line that, in Accra, underscored why Israel framed its two-year campaign as cautious, catastrophic and ultimately unavoidable in its view.
