Africa-Press – Ghana. Ghana has deported three Israelis in a reciprocal response to what it earlier condemned as the unjustified detention and deportation of Ghanaian travellers by Israeli authorities at the Ben Gurion International Airport.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the action followed the ill-treatment of three Ghanaian nationals by Israeli officials, prompting the Government to “retaliate by deporting three Israelis who arrived in Ghana earlier today.”
The decision comes after Ghana strongly protested what it described as humiliating and unfair treatment of its citizens at the Tel Aviv airport.
According to the Ministry, Israel’s Chargé d’Affaires ad interim was summoned after the Ambassador was confirmed to be out of Ghana.
Both sides have since agreed to resolve the matter through diplomatic engagement.
Government reiterated its commitment to safeguarding the dignity of its nationals abroad, insisting that Ghana expects the same level of civility and respect that foreign nationals enjoy in Ghana.
It added that measures to protect Ghanaians travelling overseas would continue to be enforced.
Initial reports indicated that seven Ghanaian travellers, including four Members of Parliament attending a cybersecurity conference in Tel Aviv, had been detained, with three others subsequently deported.
The lawmakers were released following intervention by Ghana’s Mission and returned to the conference programme.
However, new information emerging from an anonymous source in Accra has offered additional context, suggesting that the group questioned by Israeli authorities were staff of Ghana’s Parliamentary Service, not MPs.
The source said the delegation raised concerns because the designated head, the Clerk to Parliament, was not present, and some members of the team struggled to clearly articulate the purpose of the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence event they claimed to be attending.
The source explained that while the delegation was questioned for about five hours, they were neither detained nor deported.
All Parliamentary Service staff had since joined the conference.
The source further clarified that those deported earlier on Sunday were believed to be two or three staff of GT Bank, who were also en route to the same cybersecurity event but were not connected to Parliament’s delegation.
Their case was unrelated to the Parliamentary Service group’s questioning, the source stated.
The emerging details suggest the situation may have escalated due to miscommunication or incomplete information that reached Ghanaian authorities.
The anonymous source noted that the parliamentary staff were never removed from Israel but continued to participate in the conference.
Despite the clarifications, Ghana maintained that the treatment of its nationals at Ben Gurion Airport was unacceptable, especially in light of six decades of cordial diplomatic relations.
Both governments have since undertaken diplomatic steps to de-escalate tensions, with assurances that the matter will be resolved amicably.
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