Istanbul
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Israel’s “unexpected and strange” recognition of Somaliland may have dire implications for Palestinians in Gaza.
“Somaliland has been claiming the secession issue for a long time, over the past three decades, and no one country in the world has recognised it,” Mohamud told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview from Istanbul, Turkiye, on Tuesday.
“For us, we’ve been trying to reunite the country in a peaceful manner. So after 34 years it was very unexpected and strange that Israel, out of nowhere, just jumped in and said, ‘We recognise Somaliland’.”
He said the recognition “was not merely a diplomatic gesture but a cover for specific, high-stakes Israeli strategic objectives”.
Israel last week became the first and only country to formally recognise Somaliland, a breakaway region in northwest Somalia, bordering the Gulf of Aden.
Mohamud did not mince words over what he said is the true intent behind Israel’s overture to Somaliland, a region that has sought international recognition for more than three decades without success.
According to Somali intelligence, Somaliland has accepted three Israeli conditions in exchange for Israeli recognition: the resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of an Israeli military base on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, and Somaliland joining the Abraham Accords, Somalia’s president said.
The accords are a set of pacts establishing the normalisation of ties between Israel and several Arab states. The UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan have already signed on.
Somalia has intelligence indicating there is already a level of Israeli presence in Somaliland, and Israeli recognition of the region is merely a normalisation of what is already happening covertly, Mohamud said.
Israel will resort to forcibly displacing Palestinians to Somalia, the Somali leader added. The moves will “open a box of evils in the world”, he said, arguing Israel is attempting to “export its problem in Gaza” to the Horn of Africa.
“Israel does not have any peaceful intentions in coming to Somalia. This is a step of utmost danger, and the whole world, especially Arabs and Muslims, must view it as a serious threat,” said Mohamud.
Strategically important waterways
A 20-point plan released by the administration of US President Donald Trump ahead of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza said “no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return”.
However, Israel has reportedly continued to explore ways to displace Palestinians from the besieged and occupied territory, including in mysterious flights to South Africa, which has formally accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel is also seeking to control strategically important waterways connecting vital seas of commercial and economic significance, namely the Red Sea, the Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, Mohamud said.
