(SOMALILAND) — Somaliland denied it had agreed to accept Gaza refugees or host Israeli military bases in exchange for Israel’s recognition, rejecting allegations made by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Mohamud has claimed Somaliland agreed to resettle Palestinians and establish an Israeli military base as part of a recognition deal announced on December 26, 2025.
He told Al Jazeera that Somaliland secretly maintained ties with Israel before the formal recognition and was planning to accept Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza.
Mohamud also said Somaliland agreed to join the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states.
Somaliland’s leadership rejected those characterizations, denying it had made any agreement on Palestinian resettlement or on hosting a military base.
The exchange has sharpened a dispute that has played out across the region since Israel’s December 26 recognition of Somaliland as an independent state.
Israel’s move made it the first country to recognize Somaliland since Somaliland declared independence in 1991.
Somalia has categorically rejected the recognition as a violation of its territorial integrity and international law.
Somalia’s government has also said it would not permit foreign military bases or arrangements that could draw the country into proxy conflicts.
The clash over the alleged terms of the recognition deal has brought two issues—Gaza refugees and Israeli military bases—into a Horn of Africa argument already charged by questions of borders and sovereignty.
Mohamud’s account tied the recognition deal to the fate of Palestinians displaced from Gaza, saying Somaliland was preparing to accept Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza.
Somaliland’s denial directly contradicted that, as well as the claim that an Israeli military base would be part of the arrangement.
Somaliland’s rejection also cut against Mohamud’s assertion about the Abraham Accords, which he described as the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states.
Somaliland’s position left the focus on Israel’s recognition itself, which the dispute described as destabilizing to the Horn of Africa region.
Multiple countries and international organizations, including the African Union, Arab League, and UN Security Council members, have condemned Israel’s recognition as destabilizing to the Horn of Africa region.
Somalia’s response has centered on the principle that Somaliland remains part of Somalia, with Mogadishu treating any outside recognition as a challenge to Somalia’s territorial integrity.
Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, has sought to press its case for statehood internationally, and Israel’s recognition on December 26 marked a departure from the position held by other states.
The dispute has also highlighted how swiftly developments tied to Israel and the war in Gaza can reverberate far beyond the immediate region.
By linking the recognition deal to the resettlement of Palestinians, Mohamud framed the issue as part of a broader set of regional tensions, rather than a bilateral disagreement.
Somaliland’s denial aimed to separate Israel’s recognition from any suggestion of third-country resettlement of Gaza refugees or basing rights for foreign forces.
The question of Israeli military bases has been particularly sensitive in Somalia’s response to the recognition, with Somalia’s government saying it would not permit foreign military bases or arrangements that could draw the country into proxy conflicts.
That position is rooted in Somalia’s view that the recognition violates international law, and in its insistence on maintaining its territorial integrity.
The international criticism cited in the dispute points to concerns that the recognition could alter regional alignments, with multiple countries and international organizations condemning it as destabilizing.
Those reactions included condemnation from the African Union, the Arab League, and UN Security Council members, as described in the dispute.
Somaliland’s denial, and Somalia’s insistence that it rejects the recognition, have left the two sides with fundamentally different narratives about what Israel’s decision means and what, if anything, it entails beyond diplomatic recognition.
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has not been described here in terms of any formal agreements beyond the allegations that Somaliland denies.
What is clear from the dispute is that Mohamud has publicly linked the recognition deal to claims about Palestinians and basing, and Somaliland has publicly rejected those claims.
The argument has unfolded in a region where questions of recognition and sovereignty can trigger rapid political responses, especially when linked to conflicts elsewhere and to the prospect of foreign military bases.
For Somalia, the issue is inseparable from its claim to Somaliland and from the government’s stance that it would not permit foreign military bases or arrangements that could draw the country into proxy conflicts.
For Somaliland, Israel’s recognition on December 26 was described as the first such recognition since 1991, and its leaders have pushed back against any assertion that the recognition deal involved Gaza refugees or Israeli military bases.
With multiple international bodies and states condemning the recognition as destabilizing, the diplomatic fallout has extended beyond Somalia and Somaliland.
Somaliland’s denial has kept the focus on the core disagreement: whether the recognition deal was purely a matter of diplomatic recognition, or whether it carried additional commitments that Somaliland says do not exist.
Somaliland has officially denied allegations that its diplomatic recognition by Israel involved secret agreements to host military bases or accept Gaza refugees. These claims, made by Somalia’s President, have intensified regional tensions. While Somaliland celebrates its first international recognition since 1991, Somalia and various international bodies condemn the move as a threat to the Horn of Africa’s stability and territorial integrity.
