President John Dramani Mahama has delivered a forceful appeal to world leaders at the 80th United Nations General Assembly, urging the international community to end what he described as ongoing crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
Mahama’s remarks drew attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where international observers have documented widespread hunger, displacement, and civilian casualties amid the ongoing conflict.
Addressing delegates in New York, Mahama criticised the reluctance of global leaders to confront the situation directly, insisting that the suffering of innocent Palestinians must no longer be ignored or disguised in diplomatic language.
“Ghana recognised the state of Palestine in 1988 and has always supported a two-state solution,” he said. 4
“Contrary to the claims of some, a two-state solution would not be a reward for Hamas but, rather, a reprieve for the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who have been facing collective punishment and forced starvation for no reason other than the fact that they are Palestinian.”
The President lamented that, for nearly two years, the UN General Assembly has been “playing hide-and-seek with language” to avoid directly naming the atrocities unfolding in Gaza.
He warned that euphemisms cannot hide the reality.
“But here’s the thing,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter what you call it: if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, well then… it must be a duck. The crimes in Gaza must stop.”
He called on member states to prioritise human dignity over political calculations and to end the cycle of silence that enables further suffering.