{"id":498302,"date":"2026-06-18T02:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T02:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/498302\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T02:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T02:18:12","slug":"somaliland-president-visits-children-receiving-life-saving-heart-treatment-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/498302\/","title":{"rendered":"Somaliland president visits children receiving life-saving heart treatment in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The President of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, visited on Wednesday the \u201cSave a Child\u2019s Heart<\/a>\u201d center in Holon, where he met nine children from Somaliland who are currently receiving life-saving cardiac treatment at Wolfson Medical Center.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Ministry stated that \u201cone of the most significant examples of humanitarian cooperation between Israel and Somaliland began in 2004, when a representative in Ethiopia approached the Israeli embassy requesting assistance for his son, who suffered from a heart condition. Following the request, the Foreign Ministry connected the family with the Save a Child\u2019s Heart organization, which provided the child with life-saving treatment in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somaliland president meets children who have undergoen heart surgery in Israel<\/p>\n

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The ministry added that it has since supported the project and helped bring 58 children from Somaliland to Israel for life-saving medical treatment.<\/p>\n

It was further noted that this humanitarian cooperation began more than two decades before the diplomatic breakthrough that led to the establishment of formal relations between Israel and Somaliland, the historic visit by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to Somaliland in January 2026<\/a>, and the opening of Somaliland\u2019s embassy in Jerusalem earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The children, aged from three months to 18 years, arrived in Israel following a medical delegation to Somaliland initiated and funded by MASHAV in the Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with the Save a Child\u2019s Heart organization earlier this month. During the visit, the president met the children, their families, and medical teams, and was briefed on the organization\u2019s work and ongoing cooperation between Israel and Somaliland in pediatric cardiology.<\/p>\n

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\"\u05e2\u05d1\u05d3<\/a>\"\u05e2\u05d1\u05d3<\/p>\n

The children, aged from three months to 18 years, arrived in Israel following a medical delegation to Somaliland <\/p>\n

(Photo: Shlomi Amsalem, GPO)<\/p>\n

MASHAV Deputy Director General Eynat Shlein said: \u201cMASHAV has been a long-standing partner supporting the important work of the Save a Child\u2019s Heart organization. The health sector is a central pillar of cooperation between Israel and Somaliland, with an emphasis on capacity building and assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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4 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05e2\u05d1\u05d3<\/a>\"\u05e2\u05d1\u05d3<\/p>\n

The ministry added that it has since supported the project and helped bring 58 children from Somaliland to Israel for life-saving medical treatment <\/p>\n

(Photo: Shlomi Amsalem, GPO)<\/p>\n

Earlier on Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority, the Arab League, and terrorist organizations condemned the opening of Somaliland\u2019s embassy in Jerusalem<\/a>. In response, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar said: \u201cWe are determined to continue advancing the partnership. No one will dictate to Israel or to Somaliland with whom to conduct diplomatic relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar met President Abdullahi on Monday, when they jointly inaugurated Somaliland\u2019s embassy in Jerusalem. The Arab League strongly condemned the opening, calling it a \u201cviolation of international law\u201d and rejecting any change to the city\u2019s status quo. It also reaffirmed its commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and its full support for the territorial integrity of Somalia.<\/p>\n

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4 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05e2\u05d1\u05d3<\/a>\"\u05e2\u05d1\u05d3<\/p>\n

The President of Somaliland visited on Wednesday the ‘Save a Child\u2019s Heart’ center in Holon <\/p>\n

(Photo: Shlomi Amsalem, GPO)<\/p>\n

The terrorist organization al-Shabaab issued an unusual statement condemning the Somaliland president, saying he \u201cdoes not represent Muslims,\u201d accusing him of abandoning Islam and becoming the first Somalia-linked figure to \u201chand Jerusalem over to the occupying Jews,\u201d and calling on Somaliland residents to rise against the government. The group also reiterated previous threats to target Israelis and Somaliland authorities over recognition of Somaliland.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian Authority\u2019s Foreign Ministry also issued a condemnation, stating it \u201cstrongly denounces the so-called opening of the embassy by what is referred to as \u2018Somaliland\u2019 in occupied Jerusalem.\u201d The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) joined the condemnations, rejecting the establishment of the embassy in Jerusalem and reaffirming its full support for the sovereignty of a united Somalia.<\/p>\n

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\"\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0<\/a>\"\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar met President Abdullahi on Monday, when they jointly inaugurated Somaliland\u2019s embassy in Jerusalem <\/p>\n

(Photo: Shlomi Amsalem, GPO)<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Sa\u2019ar, addressing Israel\u2013Somaliland relations during his meeting with the president on Monday, said: \u201cThere are indeed challenges in building relations between Israel and Somaliland. Unfortunately, many are trying to derail them \u2014 they will not succeed. We are both determined to continue advancing the partnership. No one will dictate to Israel or to Somaliland with whom to maintain diplomatic relations. The strength of this relationship is that it is not only between governments, but between peoples. It exists in the hearts of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The President of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, visited on Wednesday the \u201cSave a Child\u2019s Heart\u201d center in Holon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-498302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}