By - Editor-in-Chief
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MOGADISHU, 3 November 2026 – Somalia has condemned Israel’s accreditation of an ambassador in Hargeisa and the laying of a cornerstone for an embassy in Somaliland, calling the moves a violation of its sovereignty.
Somalia’s statement, issued on Tuesday, followed a ceremony at the presidential palace in Hargeisa where Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro, received the credentials of Israel’s ambassador to Somaliland, Michael Lotem. The Somaliland presidency announced the ceremony.
Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the actions were taken without the federal government’s consent and amounted to “a flagrant violation of Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity.”
“Somalia rejects them as null and void and without legal effect,” the ministry said.
The statement said that Hargeisa and the Somaliland region remain part of Somalia. It added that under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, opening diplomatic relations and permanent missions requires the consent of the sovereign state.
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“No unilateral act can circumvent that requirement or alter the status of Somali territory,” it said.
Somalia’s foreign ministry said the latest steps compound Israel’s recognition of Somaliland in December 2025. The African Union, the regional bloc IGAD, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have all rejected that recognition.
The ministry warned that, with insecurity rising in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, actions that encourage fragmentation and disregard internationally recognised borders risk deepening tensions across the region.
Somalia demanded that Israel immediately reverse the measures. It called on other states and international organisations to reject them and to avoid any engagement that would give them legitimacy. The federal government said it reserves the right to take diplomatic, political and legal measures under international law.