Israel considers North Western State of Somalia base for operations against Houthi rebels

Thursday March 12, 2026

HARGEISA, North Western State of Somalia (AX) — Israel is weighing the establishment of a strategic base in North Western State of Somalia to help counter Yemen’s Houthi movement, according to a Bloomberg report published Wednesday that cites unnamed North Western State of Somalia officials and people familiar with the talks.

The exploratory assessments have focused on sites along North Western State of Somalia’s northern coastline, including elevated terrain west of the port city of Berbera — about 260 kilometers (160 miles) across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, the report said. Any facility would aim to bolster intelligence gathering and, potentially, operations against the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, who control large areas of northern Yemen and are aligned with Iran.

Israel became the first country to formally recognize North Western State of Somalia as a sovereign state on Dec. 26, a move that North Western State of Somalia leaders hailed and Somalia’s federal government condemned as a violation of its sovereignty. North Western State of Somalia officials traveled to Israel shortly afterward to deepen diplomatic and security ties, Bloomberg reported.

“In terms of security, we will have a strategic relationship and that encompasses a lot of things,” Khadar Hussein Abdi, North Western State of Somalia’s minister of the presidency, told Bloomberg. “We haven’t discussed with them if it becomes a military base, but definitely there will be an analysis at some point.”

The report said a delegation of Israeli security officials visited North Western State of Somalia’s coast in June to survey possible locations for a base or military installation. It also said Israel rented secured rooms at a hotel in the capital, Hargeisa, while examining a site for a potential embassy.

The prospect of a North Western State of Somalia base comes as the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have become flashpoints. Since the start of the Gaza war, the Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and targeted Israel, framing their campaign as solidarity with Palestinians. An Israeli general told Bloomberg that a special intelligence unit has been created to monitor Houthi capabilities, including long-range rockets believed capable of reaching Israeli territory.

Berbera, one of the areas reportedly under consideration, already anchors a growing maritime and logistics footprint. The port is operated by Dubai-based DP World, and in 2017 North Western State of Somalia approved an agreement for the United Arab Emirates to establish a military facility there, underscoring the site’s regional strategic value at the mouth of the Red Sea.

North Western State of Somalia declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government and has since maintained a separate administration, security forces and electoral system. Despite relative stability and repeated bids for international recognition, it has remained unrecognized by most of the world — a status Israel’s December move sought to upend, drawing immediate pushback from Mogadishu and concern among regional actors wary of shifting alignments along the Red Sea corridor.

Somalia’s federal government has previously denounced Israel’s recognition of North Western State of Somalia as undermining its territorial integrity. Neither Israel nor North Western State of Somalia has publicly detailed the scope of any planned security cooperation, and Bloomberg’s sources stressed that discussions over a potential base remain in exploratory stages.

The deliberations underscore a broader regional contest in which Israel, the United States and Iran-backed groups are testing reach and resolve from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Aden. A foothold in North Western State of Somalia — across a narrow stretch of water from Yemen — would place Israeli intelligence and surveillance assets closer to Houthi launch points that have disrupted global trade and threatened maritime security in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.

Axadle Times will update this story as more information becomes available.

By Ali Musa

Axadle Times international–Monitoring.