Somaliland residents wave flags as they celebrate Israel’s announcement to recognise Somaliland’s statehood in downtown Hargeisa [Getty]
Hamas on Saturday stressed its categorical rejection of Israeli plans to forcefully displace Palestinians from Gaza, including to Somaliland, following Tel Aviv’s recognition of the breakaway region as an independent state.
Israel said on Friday it was officially recognising Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic that in 1991 declared it had unilaterally seceded from Somalia.
Mogadishu immediately denounced a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, and condemnations have poured in from across the region. US President Donald Trump, a staunch Israel ally, has said he will not follow in Israel’s footsteps.
In a statement on Saturday, Hamas said it rejects “the exchange of recognition between Somaliland and the criminal Zionist entity,” in reference to Israel. The remarks from the Palestinian group come amid a fragile ceasefire, following two years of war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 71,000 Palestinians.Â
Hamas described the recognition as “a dangerous precedent and an unacceptable attempt to gain false legitimacy from a fascist entity occupying the land of Palestine, implicated in war crimes and genocide, and facing growing international isolation”.
Hamas further emphasised its “categorical rejection of the occupation’s plans to forcibly displace our people, including the use of Somaliland as a destination for the people of Gaza”.
Earlier this year, media reports said Somaliland was among a handful of African territories willing to host Palestinians expelled by Israel, but neither the Somaliland authorities nor the Israeli government has ever commented on those reports.
Several far-right Israeli officials have called for the full annexation of the Gaza Strip and the forced displacement of its some 2 million inhabitants.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which started in October 2023, has displaced most of the population, plunged it into a deep humanitarian crisis and triggered famine in some parts of the enclave earlier this year. Despite the US-brokered truce agreement, Israel also continues to restrict the entry of desperately needed aid into Gaza.Â
Palestinians have rejected any attempts to leave the Strip despite Israel’s siege and attacks.
In its statement, Hamas said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to recognise a secessionist administration in Somalia “reflects the depth of international isolation Israel is facing as a result of its genocidal crimes in Gaza.”
The movement called for strengthening this isolation at both the popular and official levels and to hold its leaders accountable for crimes committed against humanity.
Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Israel and its main backer, the US, are not members of the ICC.
Hamas praised Arab and Islamic countries for condemning Israel’s decision to recognise Somaliland, which the group described as “dangerous behaviour that violates international law, as it undermines Somalia’s unity and sovereignty.”
It warned against what it called “malicious Zionist policies aimed at fragmenting Arab states, destabilising them, and interfering in their internal affairs, in service of the colonial Zionist project.”
Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab vowed Saturday to fight any attempt by Israel “to claim or use parts of Somaliland.”
“We will not accept it, and we will fight against it,” Al-Shabaab said in a statement, referring to the breakaway region as an “apostate administration.”
The territory of Somaliland is 176,120 square kilometres and corresponds more or less to the former British Somaliland protectorate.
It has its own money, army and police and enjoys relative stability compared to its neighbours, especially the rest of Somalia, which has been battling Al-Shabaab for nearly 20 years.
But, until now, Somaliland had not been publicly recognised by any country, which has kept it politically and economically isolated despite its location on one of the world’s busiest trade routes connecting the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal.
Regional analysts believe that a rapprochement with Somaliland could allow Israel to secure better access to the Red Sea.
(Agencies contributed to this report)