Speaking in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera from Istanbul on Tuesday, Mohamud said the move by the Israeli regime carried broader implications for Palestinians and regional stability.
“Somaliland has been claiming the secession issue for a long time, over the past three decades, and no one country in the world has recognized it,” Mohamud told Al Jazeera.
“For us, we’ve been trying to reunite the country in a peaceful manner,” he added.
“So, after 34 years, it was very unexpected and strange that Israel, out of nowhere, just jumped in and said, ‘We recognize Somaliland’.”
Israel last week became the first and only country to formally recognize Somaliland, a self-declared breakaway region in northwest Somalia along the Gulf of Aden.
Mohamud said Somali intelligence believes Somaliland accepted three conditions in exchange for recognition by the Israeli regime.
He said those conditions included the resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of an Israeli military base on the Gulf of Aden coast, and Somaliland’s accession to the Abraham Accords.
The accords are a set of agreements normalizing ties between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Meanwhile, Mohamud said Somalia has intelligence indicating there was already a degree of Israeli presence in Somaliland before the recognition.
He said the announcement merely formalized activities that had previously taken place covertly.
“Israel will resort to forcibly displacing Palestinians to Somalia, and its presence in the region is not for peace,” Mohamud added.
Separately, a 20-point plan released by the administration of US President Donald Trump ahead of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza stated that “no one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return”.
However, Israel has reportedly continued to explore ways to displace Palestinians from the besieged and occupied territory.
These efforts have included reported mysterious flights to South Africa, which has formally accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Mohamud said the Israeli regime was also seeking control over strategically important waterways linking major commercial routes.
He cited the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden as areas of particular economic and geopolitical significance.
The Somali president was in Turkey on Tuesday for a joint news conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Both leaders warned that Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region could further destabilize the Horn of Africa.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but had failed to secure recognition from any United Nations member state until Israel changed its position last Friday.
In response, Israel’s move was swiftly condemned by numerous countries.
Most members of the United Nations Security Council criticized the decision during an emergency meeting in New York on Monday.
The United States was the only member of the 15-seat council to defend Israel’s move.
However, Washington stressed that its own position on Somaliland remained unchanged.