The UN Security Council will meet in an emergency meeting tomorrow over Israel's controversial recognition of Somaliland as an independent state, DPA reported.
Ahead of the meeting, 21 Muslim countries issued a joint statement late last night warning that the Israeli decision "will have grave consequences for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region as a whole."
Somaliland, a predominantly Muslim region in northern Somalia with a population of several million, has been operating on the international stage as a de facto independent entity for more than 30 years.
On Friday, Israel became the first country in the world to recognize the breakaway territory as independent, drawing condemnation from the Somali government and regional partners.
The decision was reached just days before Somalia takes over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, DPA notes.
The joint declaration, published by Qatar, said that 21 countries "clearly and unequivocally oppose the Israeli move, which constitutes a grave violation of the principles of international law".
The statement also condemned "attempts to forcibly evict the Palestinian people from their lands". The latter was included in the position in the context of reports that the recognition was linked to efforts to relocate Palestinians from Gaza.
Somaliland Foreign Minister Abdirahman Dahir Adam told Israeli TV Channel 12 yesterday that the decision had nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the recognition was made "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords," under which several Arab countries recognized Israel's independence.
The Times of Israel newspaper noted that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco - which are part of the Abraham Accords - are not among the signatories of the joint declaration recognizing Somaliland.
The EU insisted that Somalia's sovereignty be respected after Israel officially recognized the northern region of Somaliland as an independent state, Agence France-Presse reported.
European Commission foreign policy spokesman Anwar El-Announi said the bloc "reaffirms the importance of respecting the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia in accordance with its constitution and the Charters of the African Union and the United Nations."
Earlier this year, US and Israeli officials told the AP that Israel had asked Somaliland about possibly accepting Palestinians from Gaza in the context of US President Donald Trump's plan, which the American leader was then promoting, to resettle the population of the enclave. Washington subsequently abandoned this plan.
Somalia itself also described Israel's decision as illegal, and the chairman of the African Union, Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, warned that the move threatened peace and stability on the continent.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that his Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had signed a joint declaration with Somaliland leader Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords".
The initiative, launched in 2020, established diplomatic and trade relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslim countries. The administration of US President Donald Trump, under whose auspices the process was initiated, sees the Abraham Accords as key to ensuring long-term stability in the Middle East.
Somaliland declared independence in 1991 at the dawn of Somalia's descent into instability and transformation into the perpetually troubled state it remains to this day. Although it has its own government and currency, the breakaway region was not recognized as an independent state by any country in the world until Friday.
Somaliland is located next to Yemen, located on the opposite shore of the Gulf of Aden, and borders the small country of Djibouti, where the United States, China, France and several other countries have military bases.