Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthis terror group, warned on Sunday that the organization will “consider any Israeli presence in Somaliland as a military target,” the Houthi-run Saba News Agency reported.
“We emphasize our firm stand with the brotherly Somali people against Israel, and we will take all possible support measures to assist them,” said al-Houthi, and called the recognition a threat to both Somalia and Yemen.
The Houthis’ leader also accused Israel of aiming for the “further disintegration and fragmentation of other countries.”
He ended his speech by demanding support for the Palestinian cause, arguing that not helping Palestine will "provide an opportunity for the Israeli enemy in its conspiracies against the rest of the world.”
Israel becomes first country to recognize Somaliland
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially recognized Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state, the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Friday.
Israel became the first UN member state to recognize the African state’s independence from Somalia, with Netanyahu saying the declaration “is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of President Trump.”
Somaliland has been largely independent of Somalia since the 1991 Somali Civil War, when the northern territory officially separated from the rest of the country and established a relatively peaceful, stable region.
Over the years, Somalia has rallied international actors against any country recognizing Somaliland.
The former British protectorate hopes that recognition by Israel will encourage other nations to follow suit, increasing its diplomatic heft and access to international markets.
Danielle Greyman-Kennard and Reuters contributed to this report.