Hargeisa (Somalia Today) — As soon as it took off from Addis Ababa, an aircraft carrying Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar concealed its destination until officials formally announced its arrival at Hargeisa airport, the capital of the breakaway Somaliland region.
Al Jazeera’s digital verification unit tracked the aircraft’s route and obtained information about its nationality, type, and history.
The plane departed Addis Ababa airport on Tuesday morning at around 9:24 a.m. local time.
Minutes later, after leaving the runway area, the aircraft disappeared from public tracking as its signal was no longer visible, and it did not disclose its destination.
The reason may be that the operator limited the flight’s visibility because Somalia’s federal authorities fully control the country’s airspace and airlines require federal clearance to operate in Somali territory.
Since Israel would be unlikely to obtain such clearance, the flight may have entered illegally and in a concealed manner, showing that even after Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, it remains constrained by international law.
Later on Tuesday, the Somaliland Presidency account on X posted a video showing the reception of the breakaway region’s leader, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, for the Israeli foreign minister and a number of senior Israeli officials, according to the official post.
The video shows the aircraft that carried Sa’ar. It is operated by the Romanian company Fly Lili and landed at Egal International Airport in Hargeisa, in northwestern Somalia.
Tel Aviv–Addis–Hargeisa
After reviewing the full details of the aircraft used for Sa’ar’s trip, the digital verification team reported additional findings.
By matching the footage published by the breakaway region’s presidency with recent images from previous flights of the same aircraft, and by tracking its route using FlightRadar data, it found the plane took off from Tel Aviv on Monday at around 8:52 a.m. local time.
It arrived in Addis Ababa at around 1:55 p.m., which aligns with confirmation by Israel’s public broadcaster that Sa’ar reached “Somaliland” via Ethiopia.
Somalia’s government on Tuesday condemned Sa’ar’s visit to Hargeisa as an “unauthorised incursion” into what it described as an integral part of Somalia’s sovereign territory, deepening a dispute triggered by Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region.
In a press statement, Somalia’s foreign ministry said the trip violated Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political unity, and amounted to unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of a UN member state.
The ministry said any “official presence, contact, or engagement” undertaken in Somali territory without the explicit consent of the federal government is “illegal, null, and void,” and “carries no legal validity or effect.”
Mogadishu called on Israel to immediately cease actions it said undermine Somalia’s sovereignty and unity.
It also urged the United Nations, the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and other international partners to reiterate their support for Somalia’s internationally recognised borders.
The visit comes after Israel officially recognised the breakaway region as an “independent and sovereign” state on December 26. The decision faced broad regional and international rejection, alongside renewed calls to respect Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial unity.
