Any Israeli presence in Somaliland will be a ‘target’: Houthi leader

In the most recent condemnation of Israel’s decision to recognize the breakaway region, the leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels has warned that any Israeli presence in Somaliland would be seen as a “military target.”

According to the group’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, any Israeli presence in Somaliland constitutes military aggression against Somalia and Yemen and poses a threat to the region’s security, according to a statement released by rebel media online.

In the first for the self-proclaimed republic that unilaterally separated from Somalia in 1991, Israel announced on Friday that it is officially recognising Somaliland.

The Houthi leader expressed concern over the decision’s severe repercussions, noting that recognition is “a hostile stance targeted at Somalia, Yemen, the Red Sea, and the nations along both sides of the Red Sea.”

Somaliland, which has its own money, passport, and army, enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has long pushed for international recognition.

According to regional analysts, a pact with Somaliland would give Israel better access to the Red Sea and make it more able to defeat Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Israel repeatedly struck targets in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Israel, which the Yemeni rebels claimed were in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after starting its genocidal war in the country in October 2023.

Since a fragile truce started in Gaza in October, the Houthis have stopped attacking.

Somalia has historically experienced greater stability than Somalia, where al-Shabab fighters occasionally launch attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, despite its unilateral declaration of independence.

The African Union, Egypt, Turkiye, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation criticized Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.