\n<\/p>\n
Somaliland has rejected accusations that it agreed to host Israeli military facilities and resettle displaced Palestinians from Gaza in exchange for recognition by Israel.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday dismissed the claims as baseless, saying its engagement with Israel was \u201cpurely diplomatic\u201d and conducted \u201cin full respect of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The denial came in response to allegations by Somalia\u2019s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who told Al Jazeera that Somaliland had accepted three conditions from Israel: The resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of a military base on the Gulf of Aden coast, and joining the Abraham Accords to normalise ties with Israel.<\/p>\n Reports began circulating earlier this year that Somaliland was interested in assisting Israel\u2019s widely condemned aim of ethnically cleansing Palestinians, as officials in Hargeisa pushed for recognition.<\/p>\n Somaliland\u2019s foreign minister said no talks had taken place on the issue but stopped short of rejecting the possibility, unlike other countries rumoured to be of interest to Israel.<\/p>\n Only the final condition has been publicly acknowledged.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that Somaliland would join the Accords, telling United States media outlet Newsmax he wanted to \u201csupport a democratic, moderate country, a Muslim country, that wants to join the Abraham Accords\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel became the first country to recognise Somaliland as an independent state last week, ending more than three decades of failed bids by the breakaway region of Somalia.<\/p>\n Somaliland\u2019s President Abdurrahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, is planning an official visit to Israel in the coming weeks, according to Kan, Israel\u2019s public broadcaster.<\/p>\n Sources told Kan on Wednesday evening that the visit could take place as early as the second week of January, during which Abdullahi would formally join the Abraham Accords.<\/p>\n Netanyahu initially invited Cirro during a video call announcing the mutual recognition.<\/p>\n Somalia\u2019s president warned that Israel\u2019s recognition \u201cwas not merely a diplomatic gesture but a cover for specific, high-stakes Israeli strategic objectives\u201d.<\/p>\n He claimed Israel would \u201cexport its problem in Gaza\u201d to the Horn of Africa and described the move as opening \u201ca box of evils in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s motives for suddenly recognising Somaliland remain unclear, though analysts point to the region\u2019s strategic position at the gateway to the Red Sea, opposite Yemen\u2019s Houthis, who imposed a naval blockade on Israeli-linked shipping before the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza and fired rockets at Israel.<\/p>\n According to a November report by the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, \u201cSomaliland\u2019s territory could serve as a forward base\u201d for intelligence monitoring of the Houthis and \u201ca platform for direct operations\u201d against them.<\/p>\n The Houthis said earlier this week that any Israeli presence would be a target, a statement Somaliland\u2019s former intelligence chief, Mostafa Hasan, said amounted to a declaration of war.<\/p>\n Somaliland\u2019s foreign minister appeared to downplay regional concerns on Wednesday, telling Israel\u2019s i24NEWS that while some countries \u201cfeel Israel establishing a relationship will cause their downfall\u201d, such fears were unfounded.<\/p>\n The recognition has triggered widespread anger across Somalia, with tens of thousands taking to the streets on December 30 in Mogadishu, Baidoa, Dhusamareb, Las Anod and other cities, waving Somali flags and demanding unity.<\/p>\n More than 50 countries condemned Israel\u2019s move, while the African Union and the European Union said Somalia\u2019s territorial integrity should be respected.<\/p>\n Despite the backlash, Somaliland\u2019s president expressed confidence on New Year\u2019s Eve that \u201cmany more nations will soon formally recognise the Republic of Somaliland.\u201d<\/p>\n The region declared independence from Somalia in 1991 during a civil war but has never secured international recognition, despite maintaining its own government, currency and military.<\/p>\n Somalia continues to claim Somaliland as part of its territory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Somaliland has rejected accusations that it agreed to host Israeli military facilities and resettle displaced Palestinians from Gaza in exchange for recognition by Israel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday dismissed the claims as baseless, saying its engagement with Israel was \u201cpurely diplomatic\u201d and conducted \u201cin full respect of international law\u201d. Recommended Stories list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
\u2018A cover for Israeli objectives\u2019<\/h2>\n
Condemnation and concerns<\/h2>\n
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