Somalia rejects Israeli foothold at Berbera, putting Gulf of Aden port in focus

Somalia’s president says Israel wants to establish a naval base and use an airport in Berbera, a port city facing Yemen across the Gulf of Aden. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud rejected an Israeli presence and said his country would resist being drawn into the Middle East’s conflicts. His allegations put a port near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb shipping passage at the centre of a dispute over sovereignty and regional security.

“We will overcome the challenges posed to our country by Israeli moves,” Mohamud told Al Jazeera.

Berbera lies in Somaliland, the self-declared republic in northwestern Somalia that Mogadishu claims as part of its territory. Somaliland declared independence in 1991 and has governed itself for more than three decades. Israel’s recognition in December was its first from a United Nations member state, making the status of the territory a central part of the disagreement.

A port beside a contested shipping route

Mohamud said Israel’s purpose in seeking a base and airport access was to move closer to the Gulf states and Iran. Those plans were described by the Somali president; the supplied Al Jazeera report contains no Israeli response to his account. He also criticised Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and asserted that the region’s residents oppose an Israeli presence.

The location gives the dispute a maritime dimension. Berbera faces Yemen near Bab al-Mandeb, where the Iran-aligned Houthis have previously imposed a blockade on ships linked to Israel. Mohamud accused the Houthis of undermining regional stability and disrupting navigation through the strait. His comments connect the argument over Berbera with an existing dispute over access to nearby waters, rather than just the territory’s diplomatic status.

The president also portrayed the alleged Israeli plans as part of a broader territorial vision sometimes called “Greater Israel”. The term covers varying proposals for Israeli control beyond its current borders. Israel has not made that vision official policy, according to the report, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an August 2025 interview that he felt connected to it, drawing condemnation from Arab governments.

Ethiopia’s port access remains open to negotiation

Mohamud took a different position on neighbouring Ethiopia’s search for a route to the sea. He described bilateral relations as good and said Somalia did not oppose an agreement allowing Addis Ababa to use Somali ports for economic purposes. That leaves room for cooperation on trade access even as Mogadishu rejects the Israeli presence he described.

Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea gained independence in 1993 and depends largely on ports in Djibouti for trade. Its January 2024 memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access prompted Somalia to accuse it of violating Somali sovereignty. Somalia and Ethiopia subsequently agreed to reduce tensions, providing the backdrop to Mohamud’s latest comments about a jointly agreed arrangement.

The next scheduled opportunity to hear more is the full interview, which Al Jazeera Arabic is due to broadcast on Sunday. The issues to watch are the president’s account of Israel’s intentions at Berbera and whether his openness to Ethiopian port access leads to an agreement with Mogadishu.