Houthi warns of repercussions of Israeli presence in Somaliland on navigation and threatens to target
Houthi Israel Somaliland: Houthi leader threatens response to any Israeli presence in breakaway region, warning of repercussions on Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab navigation
The leader of Yemen’s Houthi group threatened to respond to any Israeli presence in Somaliland (the breakaway region), warning of attempts to turn it into a base affecting navigation in the Red Sea, weeks after the region opened an embassy in Jerusalem.
Threat to target Israeli presence
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of Yemen’s Houthi group, threatened on Thursday to target any Israeli presence in the breakaway region of Somaliland “by all available means,” asserting that Yemen “will not stand idly by regarding any Israeli presence in Somaliland, and will not wait for the faint-hearted,” according to his description.
This came in a video speech broadcast by the group’s Al-Masirah TV channel.
Concerns over control of waterways
Al-Houthi said there is “close monitoring and observation of developments in Somaliland, and what is being sought to turn it into a foothold aimed at controlling the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Red Sea.” He urged Islamic nations and countries bordering the Red Sea to “take a unified stance to prevent Israel from achieving that,” stressing that Yemen “will take the initiative at any time any presence is established to target it by all available means.”
Call to support Somalia
Al-Houthi called on governments to “reform Somalia’s situation, care for the Somali people, and support them against what he considered Israeli targets.”
The leader of the breakaway region, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullah, had opened an embassy for the region in Jerusalem on June 15, with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in attendance. This came after Israel announced its recognition of the breakaway region in December 2025, a move rejected by the federal government in Mogadishu and which drew broad regional and international criticism.
Egypt considers Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and appointment of a diplomatic envoy there a “flagrant violation” of the principles of international law, the UN Charter, and the African Union’s constituent act.
Analysts believe that Israel’s goal in recognizing Somaliland is not diplomatic but strategic and military, pointing out that Somaliland lies on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which could give Israel a military base to monitor navigation and threaten Arab national security, according to them. They mentioned that leaks have spoken of beginning construction of Israeli military facilities in the port of Berbera.
Israeli state radio revealed that Tel Aviv is working on rehabilitating and training security forces in the breakaway region of Somaliland, as part of ongoing security cooperation with the breakaway region in the Horn of Africa. The radio added that this cooperation has seen gradual development recently, within a framework of extended security relations between the two sides.
Prior to this Israeli recognition, the region—which declared independence from Somalia in 1991—had not received any official recognition, and has been operating as if it were an independent entity administratively, politically, and security-wise.
الحوثي: لن نقف مكتوفي الأيدي أمام أي تمركز إسرائيلي في أرض الصومال وباب المندب
حذّر الحوثي من محاولات إسرائيلية لتعزيز وجودها في أرض الصومال والسيطرة على الممرات البحرية في البحر الأحمر وباب المندب، مؤكداً الاستعداد للتحرك ضد أي تمركز محتمل،.
https://t.co/LxnYviQaWQ— TheCradleArabic (@TheCradleArabi) June 26, 2026
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