Articles about Israeli recognition of Somaliland

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A number of articles from Middle East Monitor. They state that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recognised Somaliland without appropriate authority and that it is part of a deal the intention of which is to forcibly remove Palestinians to Somaliland.

Israeli prime minister under fire over recognition of Somaliland, Gaza talks with Trump

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Israeli opposition and Yesh Atid party leader, Yair Lapid, speaks to the press during a party meeting in Jerusalem, on 5 February, 2024 [Amir Levy/Getty Images]

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday over Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland and his talks with US President Donald Trump without a clear plan for Gaza, Anadolu reports.

Netanyahu announced Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state on Friday, a move Lapid said did not receive approval from either the government or the security cabinet.

“Israel announced it was the first country in the world to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state,” Lapid said in a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as cited in a video published by the Knesset Channel.

“This was not a decision of the government or the security cabinet. It was a decision of the prime minister’s office,” he added.

Lapid said several countries, including states in the region, condemned the recognition, adding that the Israeli move reflected the absence of a coherent foreign policy.

Israel became the world’s first country to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state, drawing condemnation from Türkiye, a close ally of Somalia, and countries in Africa and the Middle East, among others.

READ: Saudi royal source: Israel’s recognition of Somaliland distances it from normalisation

Global backlash grows over Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, with many countries condemning the move as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.

Somaliland, which has lacked official recognition since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, operates as a de facto independent administrative, political, and security entity, with the central government struggling to assert control over the region and its leadership unable to secure international recognition of independence.

Lapid also criticized Netanyahu for travelling to meet Trump on Monday night without presenting an Israeli vision for Gaza.

“When an Israeli prime minister meets a US president, we wish him success,” he said. “But Netanyahu is arriving without a clear vision for Gaza. When you don’t have a vision, others decide for you.”

Lapid said that if Israel does not present a plan for Gaza, other actors, including the US and Hamas, will shape the outcome.

Netanyahu arrived in Florida late Sunday for a visit expected to last five days. The trip began with a preparatory meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to the public broadcaster KAN.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump on Monday night to discuss several issues, including Iran and the Gaza ceasefire agreement, with talks expected to focus on moving to a second phase of the deal.

The second phase includes forming a temporary technocratic committee to administer Gaza, reconstruction efforts, the creation of a peace council, the establishment of an international force, additional Israeli military withdrawals, and Hamas’ disarmament.

The ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, halting two years of Israeli war that has killed over 71,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 171,200 others since October 2023.

READ: Israeli prime minister departs for US to meet Trump

Somalia’s president says Somaliland agreed to resettle Palestinians, host Israeli base for recognition

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Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud makes a speech at the parliament in Mogadishu, Somalia on December 28, 2025. [Presidency of Somalia – Anadolu Agency]

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the breakaway region of Somaliland has agreed to resettle Palestinians and host an Israeli military base in return for recognition by Israel, citing intelligence reports.

Tel Aviv’s recognition of Somaliland was “very unexpected and strange,” Mohamud told the Qatari news network Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview, adding that it came “out of nowhere” as Israel became the first since 1991 to recognize the region as an independent state.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has operated as a de facto self-governing region without international recognition, as the central government in Mogadishu has failed to reassert control.

Mogadishu rejects Somaliland’s independence claim, considers the region part of Somalia, and views any direct engagement with it as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

OPINION: The recognition of Somaliland as an Israeli geopolitical weapon

“We’ve been trying to reunite the country in a peaceful manner,” Mohamud said.

He said Somaliland also accepted joining the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco to normalize their relations.

Israel is seeking to control strategically important waterways such as the Red Sea, the Gulf, and the Gulf of Aden, and its recognition of Somaliland merely normalizes an existing covert presence there, the Somali president said, citing intelligence reports.

He said Israel is not in the region for peace and seeks to forcibly displace Palestinians to Somalia.

Global backlash is growing over Tel Aviv’s recognition of Somaliland, with many countries condemning the move as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.

On Monday, countries at the UN Security Council raised concerns at an emergency meeting that the move appears aimed at relocating Palestinians from Gaza.

Nearly all council members condemned Israel’s recognition, while the US abstained from condemnation, saying its stance on the breakaway region, however, had not changed.

Malaysian premier slams Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, links it with ‘forced transfer of Palestinians’

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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim makes a speech during Turkiye-Malaysia Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 11, 2025. [Utku Uçrak – Anadolu Agency]

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday rejected Israel’s recognition of the breakaway Somali territory of Somaliland, while linking the move with the alleged “forced transfer of Palestinians”, Anadolu agency reported.

“Such actions violate international law and humanitarian principles, and would only perpetuate injustice rather than contribute to peace,” he said during a news conference, according to the Malaysian daily The New Straits Times.

Anwar said that any attempt to use the territory “for the forced transfer of Palestinians is totally and wholly unacceptable.”

The remarks come as the Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday rejected Israeli plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, including to Somaliland, following Tel Aviv’s recognition of the breakaway region.

Anwar, while noting the recent discussions held in Florida for the next phase of the peace process, warned that any return to large-scale violence would exact an “intolerable cost” on civilians and further weaken fragile prospects for peace.

READ: Israeli prime minister under fire over recognition of Somaliland, Gaza talks with Trump

“Israel must be held accountable for its actions and obligations under international law,” he added.

Israel became the world’s first country to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state on Friday.

Global backlash grew over Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, with many countries condemning the move as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.

On Friday, Somalia reiterated its absolute and non-negotiable commitment to its sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.

Somaliland, which has lacked official recognition since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, operates as a de facto independent administrative, political, and security entity, with the central government struggling to assert control over the region and its leadership unable to secure international recognition of independence.

READ: Israel’s decision to recognize Somaliland illegitimate, unacceptable: Turkish President Erdogan

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. — Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.

Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Post author:dizzy
Post published:31 December 2025
Post category:Angela Rayner Benjamin Netanyahu crap pretend Labour David Lammy Donald Trump Fascism genocide human rights violations Israel Keir Starmer Labour Party Palestine politics Rachel Reeves Wes Streeting Zionism
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Trump Suggests US Bombed ‘Big Facility’ in Venezuela. No One Seems to Know What He’s Talking About

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A US Air Force C-130 Hercules taxis at Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, on December 18, 2025. US President Donald Trump’s administration is conducting a military campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, deploying naval and air forces for what it calls an anti-drugs offensive.
(Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images)

Administration officials have yet to provide any details about the supposed strike, which would mark a massive escalation in the president’s lawless military campaign.

President Donald Trump claimed during a recent discussion about his high-seas boat bombing blitz that US forces took out “a big facility” as part of the Venezuela-centered campaign—but no one seems to know what he’s talking about.

Trump said Friday during an apparently impromptu phone call to billionaire supporter John Catsimatidis—who owns and hosts programming on WABC radio in New York—that South American narcotraffickers “have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from,” and that “two nights ago, we knocked that out.”

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“We hit them very hard,” the president added.

On Monday, Trump was asked during a meeting with fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to clarify Friday’s claim.

“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” the president said, “so we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement, and that is no longer around.”

Neither Trump nor anyone in his administration offered any evidence to support the claim. There have also been no public statements from any Venezuelan government official regarding any US attack.

Q: Can you say any more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview. Did the military do that?

TRUMP: Well, it doesn't matter. But there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. We hit the area. pic.twitter.com/hvZa7fKxbq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 29, 2025

Trump did say during a Christmas Eve call to troops taking part in escalating hostilities against Venezuela—whose socialist leader, President Nicolás Maduro, has long been in Trump’s regime-change crosshairs—that, after more than two dozen boat strikes, “now we’re going after the land.”

Threats by Trump to bomb targets inside Venezuela—or even invade the oil-rich South American nation in order to oust Maduro—are nothing new. The president has deployed an armada of warships and thousands of US troops to the region and has also authorized covert Central Intelligence Agency action against Maduro. Earlier this month, Trump vowed that the US would attack Venezuela “on land,” and “very soon, too.”

However, Trump’s remarks on Friday left observers scratching their heads and scouring news reports in a fruitless effort to make sense of the president’s claim.

One US official interviewed by the Intercept on condition of anonymity said the US targeted a “facility”—but declined to disclose its location, or whether it was attacked by US forces.

“That announcement was misleading,” the official said of Trump’s claim last week.

There is some speculation that a Christmas Eve explosion and fire at a warehouse on the grounds of a Primazol chemical plant in Zulia state may have been caused by a US strike. However, the site—which reportedly makes products including chicken feed—is not located directly on any coast, and Primazol issued a statement “categorically” rejecting claims that the facility was bombed.

Either Trump is lying about 'striking' a factory inside Venezuela, or his people dropped a missile on Christmas Eve on a private industrial food/chemical & raw materials factory (Primazol) unrelated to the Venezuelan government or drug trafficking. They make chicken feed. https://t.co/i6FZCWkvwU pic.twitter.com/uV5nCAlfhw
— Eva Golinger (@evagolinger) December 29, 2025

If Trump did order any bombing of targets in Venezuela, it would be a major escalation and clear act of war by a man who, while billing himself as “the most anti-war president in history,” has now, with last week’s attack on Nigeria, bombed more countries than any president in history.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.

Post author:dizzy
Post published:30 December 2025
Post category:Donald Trump Fascism Neo-liberalism new authoritarianism plutocracy the filthy rich
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30th Strike in Trump’s High-Seas Kill Spree Claims 2 More Lives

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

This photo shows the aftermath of a US military strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea on October 3, 2025.
(Photo: screenshot/Donald Trump/Truth Social)

At least 107 people have been killed in US bombings of boats that the Trump administration claims—without evidence—were involved in narco-trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

The US military said Monday that two alleged drug smugglers were killed in the bombing of another boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but—as has been the case throughout 30 such strikes—offered no verifiable evidence to support its claim.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said on X that, on orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters.”

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“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM added. “Two male narco-terrorists were killed. No US military forces were harmed.”

According to the Trump administration’s figures, at least 107 people have been killed in 30 boat strikes since early September. The administration has tried to justify the strikes to Congress by claiming that the US is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, while legal scholars and Democratic US lawmakers counter that the bombings are likely war crimes.

On Dec. 29, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 29, 2025

War powers resolutions aimed at reining in President Donald Trump’s ability to extrajudicially execute alleged drug traffickers in or near Venezuela failed to pass the Senate in October and the House earlier this month.

Monday’s strike came amid Trump’s escalating aggression against Venezuela, including the deployment of warships and thousands of US troops to the region, authorization of covert CIA operations targeting the country’s socialist government, and threats to launch ground attacks.

Trump claimed Monday without providing evidence that US forces destroyed a “big facility” in an unspecified country where narco-traffickers’ “ships come from.”

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Venezuela Gets the Iraq Treatment: US Corporate Media Manufactures Consent for Another Imperialist War ›

Post author:dizzy
Post published:30 December 2025
Post category:Donald Trump Neo-liberalism new authoritarianism plutocracy politics the filthy rich
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‘Trump’s Economic Policies Did This’: US Business Bankruptcies Surge to 15-Year High

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick look on as President Donald Trump speaks on April 9, 2025.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

At least 717 US companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025—the highest figure recorded since the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Businesses in the United States have filed for bankruptcy this year at a level not seen since 2010 as President Donald Trump’s tariff regime has jacked up costs for companies in manufacturing and other major sectors.

Citing data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that at least 717 US companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025, the highest figure recorded since the aftermath of the Great Recession and a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.

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“Companies cited inflation and interest rates among the factors contributing to their financial challenges, as well as Trump administration trade policies that have disrupted supply chains and pushed up costs,” the Post noted. “But in a shift from previous years, the rise in filings is most apparent among industrials—companies tied to manufacturing, construction, and transportation. The sector has been hit hard by President Donald Trump’s ever-fluid tariff policies—which he’s long insisted would revive American manufacturing.”

Recent data shows that the US has lost 49,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump’s return to office.

The bankruptcy figures add to the growing pile of evidence showing that Trump’s tariffs and broader policy agenda have harmed the US economy—weakening job growth, driving the unemployment rate up to the highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic, and worsening the nation’s cost-of-living crisis.

Democrats immediately seized on the new reporting as evidence of Trump’s failed stewardship of the US economy, messaging that’s likely to be central as the 2026 midterms approach.

Trump's economic policies did this. pic.twitter.com/tRfcNxAyAU
— Sean Casten (@SeanCasten) December 27, 2025

Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday that “when Donald Trump signed his Big Ugly Bill into law, he cemented the Republican Party as the party of billionaires and special interests—not working families, farmers, or small business owners.”

“While millions of working families are already being squeezed to afford groceries, utilities, and rent, Trump chose to strip them of their healthcare and food assistance just so he could give his ultrawealthy friends and donors an extra buck,” said Martin. “Make no mistake: Trump’s ‘signature achievement’ will be the nail in the coffin for the Republican majority when voters head to the polls next November.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Post author:dizzy
Post published:30 December 2025
Post category:Donald Trump Neo-liberalism plutocracy the filthy rich
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Germany: Imprisoned ‘Palestine Action’ activists face harassment

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by Leon Wystrychowski

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Police detain demonstrators as activists gather outside the Ministry of Justice during the “Lift the Ban” protest launched by the Defend Our Juries campaign group ahead of the judicial review on the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization in London, United Kingdom, on November 20, 2025. [Raşid Necati Aslım – Anadolu Agency]

Five activists who targeted Israel’s arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in Germany are being held in harsh and legally questionable conditions. Charged under a statute increasingly used to criminalize political dissent, the ‘Ulm Five’ face solitary confinement, surveillance, and prolonged detention without bail – highlighting how Germany’s proclaimed ‘reason of state’ translates into repression of Palestine solidarity at home.

For years, Palestine activists in Germany have looked to Britain with a sense of astonishment. The state that promised Palestine to Zionist settler colonialism in the 1917 Balfour Declaration is scarcely less pro-Israel than the Federal Republic of Germany, with its so-called Staatsräson (‘reason of state‘) that proclaims unconditional solidarity with Israel – albeit without ever having been codified into law. And yet, solidarity in Britain appears – at least from this vantage point – to be more vibrant, broader, and above all more effective.

This perception is partly shaped by the mass demonstrations that repeatedly brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of London between October 2023 and October 2025. In Germany, by contrast – despite its many large cities but lack of true megacities – numerous decentralized actions have taken place every week since the start of the Gaza genocide. However, truly large demonstrations breaking the 50,000 or even 100,000 mark did not occur until last summer.

A model: ‘Palestine Action’

For many, this positive view of the British Palestine solidarity movement has also been decisively shaped by the group Palestine Action (PA), which succeeded in combining ‘direct action with media work and political struggle, including legal battles in court. Quite a few activists in Germany felt – and continue to feel – that the time had come to strike directly at the infrastructure of the genocide industry here as well.

That moment arrived only this fall. On September 8, five activists entered a factory belonging to the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in the southern German city of Ulm. They filmed themselves, unmasked, damaging equipment and holding documents up to the camera. They then allowed themselves to be arrested without resistance.

READ: UN experts urge UK to protect lives of pro-Palestine hunger strikers

‘Terrorists‘ there, ‘criminals‘ here

While in Britain thousands have taken to the streets since PA was designated a ‘terrorist organisation this summer – despite the risk of long prison sentences – the situation surrounding the so-called ‘Ulm Five‘ has so far remained strikingly quiet. The reasons are obvious: the group had no years-long history of actions through which to establish itself; the Palestine solidarity movement in Germany remains highly fragmented; even many activists only marginally noticed the action. Finally, the repression faced by the ‘Ulm Five’ – at least so far – has not reached the same extreme levels seen in Britain.

Unlike their British counterparts, the German authorities don’t accuse the activists of belonging to a ‘terrorist organisation a charge made possible by Section 129a of the Criminal Code, introduced in 1976. Instead, they are accused of forming a ‘criminal organisation‘ under Section 129, which carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison. This alleged offense would be added to the charges of property damage already leveled against them.

Section 129, originally intended to combat organized crime, is increasingly being deployed against political groups. Most recently, it has been used against young climate activists and militant anti-fascists. In practice, this amounts to a kind of ‘light‘ version of a terrorist designation – while simultaneously denying the political nature of the accused and treating them as ordinary criminals.

Harassment and struggle behind bars

The treatment of the imprisoned activists is similarly harsh and legally questionable, according to a report by seven lawyers representing the five. As in Britain, they have been denied release on bail. The lawyers also describe harassment immediately following the arrests: the activists were forced to undress and wait in their cells wearing only underwear – women without brassieres included. For 30 hours they received almost no food, and in one case medically prescribed medication was withheld for 20 hours. Interrogations were conducted in the absence of legal counsel.

The harassment has continued. Several prisoners are reportedly held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. One individual was denied access to their lawyer for two weeks; in another case, contact with family was blocked for an entire month. Meetings with attorneys remain severely restricted, and family visits are in some cases limited to one hour per month. All communication is fully monitored, and letters are arbitrarily withheld.

While eight PA activists in Britain have been on hunger strike since early November to protest their conditions of detention – and are now said to be in life-threatening condition – the imprisoned ‘Ulm Five’ have not yet resorted to this drastic measure. But neither in Britain nor in Germany would they be the first political prisoners to turn their bodies into weapons against repression. And as the history of the Irish liberation struggle and West Germany’s urban guerrilla movements makes clear, those in power – there as here – have shown little hesitation in allowing prisoners to die.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

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