MEMBERS of the United Nations security council have condemned Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, warning it may have serious implications for Palestinians.

The United States was the only member of the 15-nation council not to stand against Israel’s move at an emergency meeting in New York on Monday

Somalia’s UN ambassador Abu Bakr Dahir Osman urged the council to reject what he described as an “act of aggression,” warning it risked fragmenting Somalia and destabilising the Horn of Africa and Red Sea regions. 

He said Somalia feared the decision could be linked to Israeli plans to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza to north-western Somalia.

“This utter disdain for law and morality must be stopped now,” he said.

Israel’s deputy ambassador Jonathan Miller defended the move, telling the council recognition was “not a hostile step.”

Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, representing the 22-member Arab League, rejected “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people, or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases.”

Pakistan’s deputy ambassador Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon called the move “troubling” against the “backdrop of Israel’s previous references to Somaliland … as a destination for the deportation of Palestinian people, especially from Gaza.”