Interview Abdullahi says IDF troops in Somaliland could be a deterrent

Somaliland president says country could contribute troops to Gaza peacekeeping force

Abdirahman Abdullahi tells ToI he could offer 2,000 soldiers, but US hasn’t asked, as move would likely anger Gaza mediating countries who oppose African state’s split from Somalia

By Jacob Magid

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11 September 2026, 12:10 am 1

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi at the MEAD conference on September 10, 2026. (Itzik Belenitzki)

WASHINGTON — Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi said Wednesday that his country is prepared to contribute to the International Stabilization Force tasked with helping secure the postwar Gaza Strip on behalf of the US-controlled Board of Peace.

“We haven’t been approached about this, but if we are asked, we can provide,” Abdullahi told The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the MEAD conference in Washington.

The US may be holding off on issuing such a request because doing so may be seen as a nod of legitimacy to Somaliland, whose 1991 breakaway from Somalia is opposed by key Gaza mediating countries Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.

The Board of Peace is trying to build a 20,000-strong ISF to help secure Gaza’s borders, assist in Hamas’s disarmament and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Uganda has committed around 1,200 personnel, and Morocco has committed up to 500. Kosovo, Kazakhstan, and Albania, in total, have committed around 80. The Board of Peace is also in talks with Burundi about contributing another 500.

Abdullahi — who was slated to hold meetings at the State Department and with members of Congress in the coming days — said his country could contribute as many as 2,000 soldiers to the ISF.

Somaliland’s president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi signs the guestbook with his wife First Lady Fardowsa Mohamed Roble and President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Jun 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

While US officials initially spoke of commencing the ISF’s deployment at the beginning of 2026, plans stalled amid Hamas’s refusal to accept the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan. The terror group finally agreed on July 30, but then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came out against the proposal.

Board of Peace officials are hoping to commence the plan — which envisions a new Palestinian technocratic government entering Gaza along with a new police force and the IDF, Hamas handing over its weapons for decommissioning and Israel gradually withdrawing from the Strip — after the October 27 Knesset election.

Israel is the only country to recognize Somaliland, doing so in December of last year. While Hargeisa hoped the move would lead to similar recognitions from countries such as the US, Abdullahi said he is not disappointed because the Israeli decision still significantly raised international awareness of Somaliland.

Located in the Horn of Africa, Somaliland enjoys a strategic position across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, where the Houthi rebels hold territory, making it strategically valuable for Israel.

Abdullahi said the IDF has not yet deployed troops in his country but suggested that such a presence could serve as a deterrent for Somaliland, which he said has come under increased threat from Somalia and others as a result of the Israeli recognition.

“There are no free lunches,” he said. “Everything has some negative and some positive.