Tuesday August 26, 2025
Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali attends an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, where he urged an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and called for the protection of Palestinian civilians.
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia has renewed its call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali condemning what he described as “massacres” against Palestinians and urging urgent protection for civilians.
Speaking at an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah on Tuesday, Abdisalam demanded an end to the fighting, accelerated humanitarian access, and international action to halt Israel’s offensive.
His remarks came as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepened. The enclave’s Health Ministry said at least 75 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, including 17 people shot while waiting for food aid. Among the dead were journalists and medics struck in a “double-tap” Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis that killed 21 people, drawing condemnation from the European Union and the United Nations. Rights groups said the strike fit a pattern of systematic targeting of healthcare workers and the press.
At the same time, Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City, flattening entire neighbourhoods and forcing tens of thousands of families to flee on foot with little more than what they could carry.
Aid agencies reported that only 88 trucks a day, or about 15 percent of the minimum required, have entered Gaza over the past month, as famine spreads. The Health Ministry said 303 people, including 117 children, have now died from starvation since October 2023.
The OIC, in its closing statement, rejected what it called Israeli plans to fully occupy Gaza and urged pressure on Tel Aviv to accept cease-fire proposals. The bloc said Israel bore “full responsibility for the ongoing war and the deliberate disregard of appeasement initiatives.”
Somalia doubled down on its support for a two-state solution, establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Abdisalam also stressed Somalia’s commitment to international law and the unity of OIC member states.
Somalia has consistently aligned with international and Arab positions backing Palestinian sovereignty. In March, Mogadishu categorically denied reports suggesting it was in talks with the United States or Israel about resettling displaced Palestinians from Gaza in Somalia or its federal member states.
Both Somaliland and Puntland were cited in foreign media reports as potential destinations for Gazan refugees under U.S.-backed relocation proposals. Puntland officials had publicly suggested a willingness to accept Palestinians, though Mogadishu dismissed such claims as “rumours” and stressed that immigration policy falls strictly under federal jurisdiction, not regional authorities such as Puntland or Somaliland.
The controversy deepened in August when the Financial Times revealed that the Boston Consulting Group had secretly modelled plans to relocate Palestinians to Somalia and Somaliland on behalf of Israeli businessmen aiming to redevelop Gaza. The consultancy later disavowed the work after public outcry, but the revelations underscored why Somali officials have repeatedly sought to distance themselves from relocation schemes.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre joined Arab leaders at a Cairo summit to endorse a $53 billion reconstruction plan for Gaza and condemned any forced displacement as a violation of international law.
The relocation idea, advanced by U.S. President Donald Trump as part of a postwar vision, was widely condemned as a form of ethnic cleansing.
Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in October 2023, has killed more than 62,700 people, according to Palestinian health officials, and left the enclave devastated and on the brink of famine.
