{"id":501765,"date":"2026-06-20T00:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T00:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/501765\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T00:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T00:42:13","slug":"somaliland-president-says-direct-hargeisa-tel-aviv-flights-to-begin-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/501765\/","title":{"rendered":"Somaliland president says direct Hargeisa-Tel Aviv flights to begin soon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HOL
Friday June 19, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Somaliland<\/p>\n

Hargeisa (HOL) \u2014 Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro said direct flights between Hargeisa and Tel Aviv will begin \u201csoon,\u201d as Somaliland and Israel move to deepen their new relationship.<\/p>\n

In an interview with i24NEWS this week, Irro said the planned air link is part of efforts to ease international travel to Somaliland and reduce dependence on regional transit routes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomaliland has long complained that travelers to Hargeisa often face indirect routes, extra transit stops and restrictions linked to airspace and travel procedures that remain under the authority of Somalia\u2019s federal government,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n

Irro said direct flights would allow travelers to stop in Tel Aviv and continue directly to Hargeisa, improving access for visitors, businesspeople and investors.<\/p>\n

He said the route could also support travel between Somaliland and international partners, including Israel and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

The announcement comes as Somaliland-Israel relations have expanded rapidly since Israel reportedly recognized Somaliland in late 2025.<\/p>\n

Since then, the two sides have discussed cooperation in agriculture, water management, health, security, technology and investment. Irro described Israel as a \u201cvaluable and reliable friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli officials have also said Israel and Somaliland previously maintained secret cooperation in several areas and now want to expand ties in security, economic and diplomatic fields.<\/p>\n

Somalia\u2019s federal government has strongly opposed Israel\u2019s engagement with Somaliland, saying the recognition and diplomatic ties violate Somalia\u2019s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.<\/p>\n

Several Arab and Islamic organizations have also condemned the opening of a Somaliland mission in Jerusalem and the growing relationship between Hargeisa and Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has operated with its own government, security forces and election institutions. Somalia rejects Somaliland\u2019s claim to sovereignty and says the region remains part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday June 19, 2026 Hargeisa (HOL) \u2014 Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro said direct flights between Hargeisa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[230644,79511,56512,37187,230643,42,43,4525,21047,23046,89051,273,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-501765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-aviv","tag-begin","tag-direct","tag-flights","tag-hargeisatel","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-president","tag-says","tag-somaliland","tag-soon","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501765","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=501765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}