At a press briefing opening Somalia’s presidency of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Abukar Taher Osman forcefully rejected Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and characterized the move as “a calculated effort…to distract the world” from ongoing developments in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Responding to reporters, Osman said Somalia regards the entity sometimes called Somaliland as part of Somalia’s territory and defended prior intra‑Somalia dialogue efforts dating to 2012–2014. He emphasized the African Union principle of respecting colonial‑era borders and said representatives from the northwest region already serve in Somalia’s federal institutions.

On allegations that Israel had sought countries willing to accept Palestinians from Gaza, Osman said he had seen reports that a plan existed to transfer large numbers of people and described such a plan as unacceptable: “we're not gonna accept a single forced Palestinian to land, Somaliland, wherever it is.” He attributed the figure of 1,500,000 to reports he had seen and presented it as an allegation rather than established fact.

Osman also responded to questions about anti‑Somali rhetoric in the United States and said he did not see a change in official U.S. policy toward Somalia, noting continued bilateral cooperation on counter‑terrorism. He urged focus on substantive diplomatic work rather than inflammatory social‑media rhetoric.

The ambassador framed Somalia’s approach as rooted in dialogue and reconciliation and said the presidency would work with all members of the Security Council on issues that require attention during January.

(Reporting note: the numbers referenced by the ambassador—specifically the reported figure of “1,500,000”—were cited in the briefing as coming from reports and were presented as allegations; they are not verified within the press briefing.)