The Ghana Institute of Governance and Security (GIGS) has appealed to the United States, Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately return to the negotiating table, warning that the prolonged conflict in the Middle East is exacting an unbearable human and economic toll on the region and the wider world.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, August 4, the security and governance think tank said the war, which began earlier this year, has dragged on for far too long and continues to affect millions of people who have no influence over the decisions driving the conflict.

"The war that has gripped the region since early this year has now dragged on for too long, at too high a cost, for too many people who have no voice in the decisions being made over their heads," the statement said.

GIGS expressed concern that a ceasefire understanding reached in April, followed by a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17, 2026, aimed at ending hostilities, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and paving the way for a final peace agreement, had failed to hold.

According to the institute, renewed fighting in July, coupled with recent threats of large-scale military escalation, fresh strikes in Lebanon and attacks on commercial shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, has heightened global concerns.

"Each side accuses the other of bad faith. Meanwhile, ordinary people across the region and around the world continue to pay the price," it noted.

The institute argued that continued military escalation would not deliver a lasting solution to the conflict.

"GIGS wishes to state plainly: this war cannot be won by escalation, and it cannot be sustained indefinitely," it stressed.

The think tank warned that the conflict has already pushed up global oil prices, disrupted international shipping through one of the world's busiest maritime corridors and placed additional economic pressure on countries far from the conflict zone, including many in Africa.

"The continued fighting has already driven global oil prices sharply upward, disrupted shipping through one of the world's most vital maritime corridors, and sent tremors through economies far removed from the battlefield, including economies here in Africa that can least afford the shock."

It said rising fuel and food prices are now affecting families who played no role in the conflict.

"This is the true and mounting cost of continued war: not measured only in the language of strategy and leverage, but in the price of a bag of rice, a tank of fuel, a child's school fees."

GIGS acknowledged that both sides may believe continued military pressure would strengthen their negotiating positions but argued that such calculations had only prolonged the conflict without producing a durable resolution.

"A war fought to gain leverage for eventual negotiation is still a war, and it is negotiation, not further escalation, that must come next," the statement said.

The institute specifically called on the United States and Iran to recommit in good faith to the peace framework they had negotiated, urged Israel to exercise restraint in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region, and appealed to all parties to protect commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure while keeping channels for mediation open through countries such as Pakistan and Oman.

"There can be no lasting military solution to this conflict. There can only be a negotiated one," GIGS stated.

The institute further called on the African Union, the international community and all peace-loving nations to intensify efforts to encourage dialogue and support diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the conflict.

"Both parties cannot fight a forever war. The time to return to negotiations is now," the statement concluded.