Houthis

Sanaa, Yemen – Naef has been a government soldier in southern Yemen for nine years. When he joined the government army in 2016 – aged only 19 – he thought that the Yemeni government’s war against the Houthi rebel group would be brief.  A decade has elapsed, and the conflict remains unsettled, with the Houthis remaining in Sanaa.

Naef was clear as to the reason for the government’s failure – a lack of unity and clear command structure. For years, government soldiers and other anti-Houthi fighters have adhered to conflicting agendas across the country, with many of the fighters in the south supporting the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC). A solution to that division, Naef thought, was far-fetched.

However, more recently, things have changed. The STC’s decision to attempt to seize all of southern and eastern Yemen backfired, and Saudi Arabia backed pro-government troops in pushing the group back. The STC is now divided, with one leader on the run, and others declaring that the group had been dissolved.

The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Yemen’s UN-recognised authority led by President Rashad al-Alimi, has seized the initiative and, on January 10, established the Supreme Military Committee (SMC), with the goal of overseeing all anti-Houthi military units, and integrating them into the official Yemeni military, under one command.

Al-Alimi said that the SMC would ultimately be a vehicle to defeat the Houthis, and reclaim all of Yemen.

The SMC announcement marks a dramatic twist in the decade-long war, and Naef is now – finally – hopeful.

“I am optimistic today as the government has revived some of its power in southern Yemen,” he told Al Jazeera. “The formation of an inclusive military committee is a boost to our morale and a prelude to a powerful government comeback.”

The soldier believes that, after years of inertia, the tide has finally turned for the government. After nine years of experience on multiple frontlines, Naef now thinks that the government – with the backing of Saudi Arabia – is capable of pushing into Houthi-controlled northwestern Yemen, should negotiations fail.

“The PLC has achieved remarkable success in the south over the past few weeks with support from the Saudi leadership. It has once again proven to be an indispensable party to the conflict. Whether this success will be short-lived or lasting remains to be seen,” said Naef.

Concerns and defiance

The formation of the SMC has unleashed a sense of concern among Houthi supporters in northern Yemen.

Hamza Abdu, a 24-year-old Houthi supporter in Sanaa, describes the new military committee as an “attempt to organise the proxies in the south”.

“This committee may end the friction between the militant groups in the south, but it will deepen the south’s subjugation to Saudi Arabia,” Hamza said. The Houthis have often framed their opponents as being proxies controlled by foreign powers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They themselves are backed by Iran.

In light of the developments, Hamza shared a concern: the resumption of the war between the Houthis and their opponents, which has largely been frozen since 2022.

“If this military committee succeeded in uniting the forces in the south, that might entice them to attack the north,” he said. “A new destructive war will begin, and the humanitarian ordeal will magnify.”

Like many ordinary citizens, Hamza is now fearful that the war will restart. But Houthi leaders – while warning that their forces should stay alert – are still confident, saying that the formation of the SMC will not affect their power or weaken their control.

Aziz Rashid, a pro-Houthi military expert, believes that the SMC will not alter the status quo, arguing that any future confrontation with the Houthis “will only serve the agendas and plans of the United States-supported Zionist entity [Israel]”.

Rashid indicated that Houthi forces in Sanaa “confronted international and powerful military forces, including the United States, Britain and Israel, and stood firm against the [Saudi-led Arab] coalition during the past 10 years”.

The only solution for Yemen, Rashid said, was a political settlement.

The Iran-backed Houthis took over Sanaa in September 2014 and toppled the UN-recognised government in February 2015. They insist they are the only legitimate authority governing Yemen.

The Houthis have faced attacks from the US, the United Kingdom, and Israel since 2023, when the Yemeni group began attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Israel itself, in what the Houthis declared was solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

A terrifying message

Defeating the Houthis will be easier said than done, considering the Saudi-backed coalition’s failure to do so with overwhelming air power in the early years of the war, and the group’s now extensive combat experience and possession of advanced weapons, including drones and missiles.

But if the Yemeni military does truly reorganise itself and integrate the different anti-Houthi forces on the ground, the opportunity may be there.

Adel Dashela, a Yemeni researcher and non-resident fellow at MESA Global Academy, said that if the SMC is able to provide security and stability in territory under its control, it may also be able to improve the lives of Yemenis living there – and put itself in a stronger position in any negotiations with the Houthis.

“The next stage is the start of a political process to reach an agreement with the Houthi group. If the peaceful option fails, the military action becomes necessary,” Dashela told Al Jazeera.

Abdulsalam Mohammed, the head of the Yemeni Abaad Studies and Research Center, believes that recent events – both inside and outside Yemen – provide the government with a perfect opportunity to confront the Houthis.

“A limited military operation routed the UAE-backed STC within a few days,” Mohammed said. “What happened to the STC in the south carried a terrifying message to the Houthis in the north. The Houthis are not invincible.”

According to Mohammed, some factors have magnified the vulnerability of the Houthis at present.

He explained, “Iran is undergoing a massive crisis, and this can weaken Tehran’s Houthi proxy. The popular silent rage against the group keeps growing, given the economic and governance issues in areas under their control. Moreover, the exit of the UAE from the south will enable the Yemeni government to shift the battle to the Houthis in the north.”

Desperate for order

Armed groups in Yemen have proliferated over the last decade. The outcome has been a weakened government and a prolonged war. Amid the chaos, the population has borne the brunt.

Fawaz Ahmed, a 33-year-old resident of the southern city of Aden, is hopeful that the establishment of a military committee will end the presence of armed groups in Aden and other southern cities.

Fawaz expects Aden to get two immediate benefits from the formation of the SMC: an end to unlawful money collection by fighters and the disappearance of infighting between competing armed units.

He recalled an incident last August in Aden’s Khormaksar district, when two military units clashed at the headquarters of the Immigration and Passports Authority, leading to the closure of the facility for days.

“The commanders of the armed groups issued conflicting directions, and soldiers opened fire on each other. This clearly points to the absence of a united leadership. So, the declared military committee will prevent such face-offs,” said Fawaz.

“We are desperate for law and order,” Fawaz said. “Desperate for a city free from an unneeded military presence. This is a collective dream in Aden. Only united military leadership can achieve this.”

After years of being at the forefront of developments in Yemen – and the wider region – the Houthis have been watching recent events from the sidelines.

The Yemeni rebel group, which is backed and funded by Iran, has controlled the capital Sanaa and much of the country’s northwest since 2014. Many see it as being in part successful for the past decade because its opponents have been so divided.

The Yemeni government has been weak, unable to rule all of the areas that were nominally under its control, let alone retake territory from the Houthis.

But an ongoing Saudi-backed campaign against the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) now sees the government claiming control of all territory not under Houthi domination.

For the first time in years, the government, led by President Rashad al-Alimi, is exuding confidence. Al-Alimi has announced the formation of a Supreme Military Committee (SMC) that will integrate all the disparate anti-Houthi forces into the Yemeni military.

In a speech on Saturday, al-Alimi said that the SMC would “prepare for the next phase if the militias refuse peaceful solutions”, in a clear threat to the Houthis.

The Houthis appear to have recognised the threat, with several high-ranking officials expressing the need to be prepared to fight.

Survival is victory

The Houthis currently feel emboldened in their ability to withstand attacks, having become an influential regional player with their strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Israel.

They have also held out against attacks from the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel since 2023, and prior to that, the Saudi-led coalition that backs the Yemeni government.

The Houthis see their very survival as a victory. Emerging from the mountains of Yemen’s far north, they have come back from near total defeat against the Yemeni military in the late 2000s to their current position as the de facto authority in Yemen’s most populous regions.

Fired by religious zeal and devotion to a leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, who they believe to be divinely appointed, the group still thinks they are in a strong position, even if the Yemeni government is showing signs of life.

The central issue that prevented a peace deal in Yemen – the belief on both sides that total victory is achievable – remains.

For the Houthis, the Yemeni government is a mere puppet in the hands of Saudi Arabia and the West, and not worth talking to.

Instead, they are of the opinion that real negotiations can only be had with Riyadh, and are firm that the end result will be their continued presence in Sanaa.

The Houthis also think that previous attacks against Saudi Arabia have eventually led to negotiations, with missile attacks on targets like an oil storage facility in Jeddah in 2022 damaging the kingdom’s image as a safe and business-friendly country.

The Houthis, therefore, know that they retain a threat towards Saudi Arabia and the Gulf – a threat that may prevent a full-throated campaign to retake Sanaa. That means the Houthis have no need to make any rash moves, and are instead able to wait and observe the fallout from events in southern and eastern Yemen.

Houthi gamble

And yet, Saudi Arabia’s willingness in December to openly militarily confront the allies of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Yemen may indicate a change of mentality in Riyadh.

The STC launched an offensive against Saudi-backed government troops in December, seeking an independent state in the south.

Their advance aimed to control broad swaths of southern Yemen, including the Hadramout and Mahra provinces, in defiance of warnings from Riyadh. Hadramout borders Saudi Arabia, while Mahra is close to the border.

The conflict between the Houthis and their opponents has been largely frozen since a ceasefire in 2022. During that time, negotiations between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia have taken place periodically, indicating an openness from the latter to close the chapter of its involvement in Yemen’s war.

Do the Houthis now think they are at risk of renewed attack from the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia? Or do they feel confident that they are strong enough to deter any such attack?

A reorganised and united anti-Houthi force would be a much greater threat than the Houthis have faced since at least 2018. Then, the Houthis almost lost their most important port – Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast – before international pressure stopped the anti-Houthi advance.

Hodeidah seems to be the most obvious choice for the Yemeni government if it does decide to move militarily against the Houthis. It is easier to fight the Houthis on the coastal plain than it is in the mountains, and the international community may be less willing to step in to stop an attack after the Houthis’ conduct in the Red Sea.

Losing the port city would also be a vital blow to the Houthis economically, particularly with the group’s main backer, Iran, going through its own economic problems, and likely unable to provide the same level of support as it has previously.

The Houthis face a dilemma. Do they attack first, or do they hope that they have established enough of a deterrence to stop any Saudi-backed moves against them?

Yemen’s frozen conflict may be about to thaw – and the Houthis, increasingly alone in the region, will have to gamble on what their move will be soon.

The internationally recognised government of Yemen says its forces have taken full control of the south from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which was aligned with the Saudi-backed government until recently.

“As the president of the country and the high commander of the armed forces, I want to assure you of the recapture of Hadramout and al-Mahra,” Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), said on Saturday.

Last month, Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in support of the PLC after the STC captured the two border provinces, which Riyadh said was a threat to its national security. The STC along with the PLC fought against the Houthis, who control northwest of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.

On Friday, the STC was dissolved, and its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, fled the country after forces loyal to the PLC took control of most of the south and eastern Yemen.

The future of the STC, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, remains uncertain amid internal divisions and the exile of its leader.

Saudi Arabia is now planning to host a conference of the main political factions from the south to shape the future of Yemen.

So what’s the latest political and security situation in Yemen, and what are the challenges in uniting Yemen?

What did the PLC chief al-Alimi say?

In his televised address on Saturday, al-Alimi called on all parties to unite ranks to restore state institutions.

He announced the formation of a Supreme Military Committee, which has been tasked with preparing military forces for the next phase of the conflict and readying them if the Houthis reject peaceful solutions.

The Yemeni leader warned armed groups to surrender their weapons and rejoin the ranks of the state, underlining “the importance of strengthening security, protecting social peace and working closely with the [governing] coalition and the international community to combat terrorism”.

He accused the Houthis of refusing to engage in dialogue and blamed the Iran-linked group for prolonging Yemen’s suffering because of their “coup against constitutional legitimacy”.

“South Yemen has for the first time in 10 years one political and military authority. No more military factions, no more divisions over ethnic and sectarian lines for the time being. There is going to be one Supreme Military Committee under the control of President Al-Alimi,” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said, reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Rashad al-Alimi has told the Houthis that they have two options: negotiate a settlement or face repercussions, including the potential for a military offensive,” he said.

Al-Alimi is a successor of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the leader of a United Nations-backed government who was evicted by the Houthis in 2014. The Houthis insist they are the legitimate authority across Yemen and do not recognise the PLC, which was formed in 2022.

“Now the PLC, backed by Saudi Arabia, is reforming institutions, disbanding STC institutions, and they are saying that their focus in the near future would be confrontation with the Houthis,” Ahelbarra said.

The president said the issue of self-determination in southern Yemen would remain a top priority, backing a southern dialogue conference under Saudi Arabia’s sponsorship.

What’s the status of the STC?

As the Saudi-backed military campaign against STC forces intensified in Hadramout and al-Mahra provinces, the southern separatist movement announced plans to hold a referendum on independence from the north on January 2.

But days later, the southern separatist force suffered major territorial losses at the hands of the PLC forces, who expanded their control over most of southern Yemen, where the STC had sway for more than a decade. The group’s now-exiled leader remains defiant, but some of its other leaders have switched loyalties.

On Friday, STC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Jalal al-Subaihi said in a broadcast on Yemeni television that the dissolution of the group was taken to preserve peace and security in the south and in neighbouring countries.

He praised “the measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the solutions it has provided that meet the needs of the people of the South”.

However, STC spokesman Anwar al-Tamimi, who is in Abu Dhabi, rejected the announcement coming out of Saudi Arabia, calling it “ridiculous news”.

On Saturday, thousands of STC supporters poured onto the streets of Aden, the capital of anti-Houthi forces in southern Yemen.

“The STC members who joined Riyadh say they are waiting to see what happens next when it comes to details of the Riyadh conference,” Ahelbarra said, referring to talks between the PLC and STC in the Saudi capital.

“I think the consensus is that everybody is willing to talk about federal system, some sort of autonomy. But the very notion of separatism is over.

“Will people in the south willing to accept the notion of autonomy or federalism, that remains to be seen,” he said.

The disenfranchisement of southern Yemen after the region was merged with the north to form a united Yemen in 1990 has also been one of the grievances.

“Al-Alimi said these are genuine concerns which are going to be taken into account at the conference. Whether he will be able to address some of those concerns remains to be seen,” the Al Jazeera correspondent said. The date of the conference is yet to be announced.

Since its formation in 2017, the STC’s goal has been separation from the rest of Yemen. Two years later, it took control of Aden and other areas in the south from the Yemeni government.

Al-Zubaidi later joined the PLC as vice president, but he continued to nurse the ambition for a “two-state solution” as STC fighters continued to expand their control in the south, weakening the fight against the Houthis.

The current conflict was triggered after the STC forces captured Hadramout and al-Mahra, drawing the Saudi intervention.

Al-Zubaidi has since been removed from his post as a PLC member, stripped of his immunity, and charged with “high treason” and “inciting internal strife”.

The Saudi military said in a statement on Thursday that al-Zubaidi fled by boat to Somalia and then flew to Abu Dhabi.

What happened in recent weeks?

In November, a Saudi-backed umbrella group of tribes from the Hadramout region seized the PetroMasila oil facility, seeking a bigger share of oil revenues and an improvement of services for Hadramout residents.

The STC used the seizure as a pretext for advancing in Hadramout and al-Mahra. These two regions hold nearly all of Yemen’s oil reserves.

Tensions soared after Saudi-backed forces attacked the Yemeni port city of Mukalla in the south, alleging incoming shipments of arms from the UAE for the STC.

The UAE said it had been surprised by the Saudi air strikes and the shipments in question did not contain weapons and were destined for Emirati forces, not the STC.

Less than two weeks later, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government had taken control of the south and east of the country from STC forces.

Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi scholar with the Malcolm H Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, said the kingdom’s move “made it very clear” that it views Yemen’s eastern provinces, especially Hadramout, as a “core national security matter”.

Riyadh views the region as critical, Alghannam said, because of its geography and strategic oil and port assets. “From Riyadh’s view, losing influence there would be more than a local setback,” he told Al Jazeera. “It would create a major security gap. It would weaken energy resilience and open space for hostile or competing powers to position themselves directly south of the kingdom.”

The Saudi-backed governing coalition then asked the UAE to withdraw its forces from Yemen within 24 hours.

The UAE withdrew all its “counterterrorism” units from Yemen. The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said it carried out a “comprehensive assessment” of its role in Yemen and decided to end its mission there.

The episode has strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

What next?

The STC will find it hard to bounce back without military support from the UAE while many of its leaders have shown a willingness to participate in the Saudi-led dialogue.

However, it is believed to still hold influence in the region.

Abdulaziz Alghashian, an adjunct professor at Naif Arab University, said the dissolution of the STC was inevitable.

“I think the legacy of the STC has now become just too poisonous. I think the recent developments have just illustrated the fact that there is probably no goodwill for the STC to be part of a genuine political process,” Alghashian told Al Jazeera.

“The dissolution of the STC suggests clearly there is a clear restructuring of the political process within Yemen. And the political framework that Saudi Arabia is trying to work with is also being redeveloped and restructured in a manner that creates a lot of confidence for Saudi to get involved in,” he said.

But some experts said the Saudi goal of a united Yemen would be difficult to achieve due to southern divisions and the Houthis’ control of northwest Yemen.

Yousef Mawry, a journalist based in Sanaa, said Yemen’s conflict will shift from the south to the north and a showdown is expected between PLC forces and the Houthis.

He added that both sides believe in a unified Yemeni state but each side believes they are the ones who should be ruling over the affairs of both the north and the south.

“The big question: Is there a common ground that al-Alimi’s government and the Houthis can agree on?” he said.

“The Houthis believe that al-Alimi’s government is nothing but a Saudi proxy that is working on behalf of the US and Saudi interests over Yemeni land. Al-Alimi has pointed fingers at the Houthis, accusing them of being an Iranian proxy,” he told Al Jazeera.

The Saudi-led military coalition, which included the UAE, intervened in support of Hadi’s UN-recognised government in 2015 but failed to defeat the Houthis. The war ended in a deadlock with the Houthis still in control of Sanaa and the regions around it.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis agreed to release prisoners and pledged not to attack each other’s territory. But the larger political questions remain to be resolved.

“What we are seeing is that al-Alimi is taking over full control of the south. Once they have full control, whatever political framework that works in, the Houthis are not going to accept it,” Mawry said.

There is mistrust between the two sides with the Houthis accusing the PLC of catering to the interests of foreign powers while the PLC accuses the Houthis of running Iranian propaganda. Saudi Arabia has historically maintained influence in its southern neighbour – Arab region’s poorest country. Houthis challenged Riyadh’s traditional role in the country.

Mawry fears the conflict will likely grow as both sides have drawn red lines. “They want full control of Yemen,” he said.

When Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland on Tuesday, he became the first Israeli official to visit the breakaway republic since his country established full diplomatic relations with it in the closing days of last year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the diplomatic recognition of Somaliland – a breakaway part of Somalia – on December 26. He said that the recognition was in keeping with “the spirit of the Abraham Accords”, referring to the United States-led initiative encouraging a number of Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel in return for diplomatic and financial concessions from the US.

But Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has prompted protests within Somalia and complaints from dozens of countries and organisations, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and the African Union.

Meeting with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa on Tuesday, Saar told reporters that Israel had not been discouraged by criticism of its decision.

“We hear the attacks, the criticism, the condemnations,” he said. “Nobody will determine for Israel who we recognise and who we maintain diplomatic relations with.”

Hegemon

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland comes after more than two years of its genocidal war on Gaza, and attacks on regional countries, including Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen, and Qatar.

Attacks on Lebanon continue, and there are new indications that Israel may be seeking to launch renewed attacks on Iran, its main regional nemesis.

Israel’s wars appear to be an attempt to portray itself – with US backing – as the regional hegemon, uninterested in compromising with its enemies.

Recognition of Somaliland, despite regional opposition, marks the latest part of that strategy.

And Israel has found a new ally in the Horn of Africa on the back of its decision.

Despite being self-governing for more than 30 years, Somaliland has failed to gain international recognition, despite maintaining its own currency, passport and army.

Recognition has been elusive, meaning that even if there are qualms from some over ties with Israel, many are willing to overlook them in the hope that this decision will pave the path for other countries to follow.

“Clans, militias and corruption have ruined Somalia,” Somali journalist and human rights activist Abdalle Mumin, who was previously imprisoned by his country’s authorities, told Al Jazeera, “At least in Somaliland they have achieved some kind of peace and stability.”

“Many hope that other countries will follow Israel,” Mumin continued.

Why has Israel recognised Somaliland?

Nevertheless, speculation over why Israel chose to recognise Somaliland has mounted since Netanyahu’s announcement, with analysts pointing to its strategic location at the crossroads between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Somaliland’s port of Berbera lies close to some of the world’s busiest maritime routes, which have come under attack over the past two years from Yemen’s Houthi rebel movement, a sworn enemy of Israel.

These were all factors in Israel’s recognition, former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy said, acknowledging that the Netanyahu government also benefitted from preserving the suggestion that Somaliland may take in Palestinians forced out of Gaza.

However, Levy suspects Israel’s ambitions may be grander still, including increasing the country’s value to its chief sponsor, the US.

By securing an ally in a strategically important region,

The key dynamic, according to Levy, is momentum.

“If you set out to do something like this, you can’t just stop [at recognition],” he told Al Jazeera. “You have to keep taking steps: more aircraft, more presence, more moves. Once you’ve committed to this kind of game, you need to stay at the table.”

The timing of the move, shortly before Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on December 29, also held significance, Levy said.

Israel was trying to place itself more firmly on what it imagines Washington’s agenda to be, and how it imagines great power competition in the Horn of Africa, particularly with China, which maintains a base in neighbouring Djibouti, might play out.

“We’ve seen before that Israel can put something on the table and the Americans follow later,” he said.

Israel may be implicitly telling the US, “We’re active, and we’re positioned in a way that helps you. Having us there helps you.”

Momentum

According to many observers, the past two years of war have already fundamentally changed the nature of Israel, with the strain of its genocidal war on Gaza, plus news assaults upon its regional neighbours, leaving the country fractured, isolated and with the hard right firmly in the ascendancy.

How enthusiastic the country might be for additional adventures in the Horn of Africa, a region, according to many observers, that remains largely unknown to much of the Israeli public, is unclear.

“Israelis have no idea what or where Somaliland is. It’s a non-issue in Israel,” Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera.

“The first time the news came out, it was published alongside maps showing the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and its position across the Gulf of Aden. They had to show people where it was,” he said, dismissing the suggestion that Israel may ever station troops there.

“No, this is Netanyahu doing what he’s been doing ever since October 7, 2023: expanding the theatre of conflict,” he said. “Be that to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen or Iran. Now, it’s Somaliland. There’s no other rationale behind it. It’s about always moving forward.”

In 2025, Israel carried out thousands of attacks in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, with at least 10,600 attacks recorded across multiple countries including Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Qatar.

Israel on Friday announced it is officially recognising Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic since 1991.

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels has warned any Israeli presence in Somaliland would be considered a “military target”, in the latest condemnation of Israel’s move to recognise the breakaway region.

“We consider any Israeli presence in Somaliland a military target for our armed forces, as it constitutes aggression against Somalia and Yemen, and a threat to the security of the region,” said the group’s chief, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, according to a statement published by rebel media online.

Israel announced on Friday that it is officially recognising Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic that in 1991 declared it unilaterally separated from Somalia.

The Houthi chief warned that the move carried grave consequences, saying that recognition is “a hostile stance targeting Somalia and its African surroundings, as well as Yemen, the Red Sea, and the countries along both shores of the Red Sea”.

Somaliland, which has for decades pushed for international recognition, enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own money, passport and army.

Regional analysts say a rapprochement with Somaliland would provide Israel with better access to the Red Sea, enabling it to hit Houthi rebels in Yemen.

After launching its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel repeatedly struck targets in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Israel, which the Yemeni rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthis have halted their attacks since a fragile truce began in Gaza in October.

Somaliland has been diplomatically isolated since its unilateral declaration of independence, even if it has generally experienced greater stability than Somalia, where al-Shabab fighters periodically mount attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland was criticised by the African Union, Egypt, Turkiye, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The European Union insisted that Somalia’s sovereignty should be respected.