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The world’s attention remains fixed on Gaza, southern Lebanon, and the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran’s network of regional allies. Yet another front is quietly emerging hundreds of kilometres away, on the African shore of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It is a development receiving far less scrutiny than it deserves, despite its potential to reshape one of the most consequential maritime corridors on earth.
Israel’s reported military cooperation with Somaliland — including allegations that around 50 Somaliland Special Forces personnel received training in Tel Aviv and the symbolic presentation of an Iron Dome interceptor fragment to Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi — is not merely an unconventional diplomatic outreach. It reflects a broader geostrategic calculation centred on the Red Sea and the growing contest over the Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow maritime gateway connecting the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal. The strait carries roughly 10–12 per cent of global seaborne trade and remains one of the world’s most critical energy and logistics chokepoints.
