SAMENA Monitoring Desk IslamabadAs was expected and as this media Pakistan in the World mentioned earlier Bab al-Mandeb Strait is banned now for Israeli ships as announced by Somalia. Earlier the Editor of this media Mr. Tazeen Akhtar shared in his comments that Mandeb is more important than Hormuz because it connects Mediterranean with Arabaian Sea through Suiz Canal into Red Sea.
That’s one of the most important shipping chokepoints on earth,moving: oil, cargo, global trade, this looks like a massive escalation, block the strait → pressure the world force attention but here’s the reality people are missing; somalia does not control the strait alone.
Bab al-Mandeb sits between: somalia side (horn of africa region) yemen side and heavily monitored international waters, and global powers already patrol it because it’s too critical to be left to one country.So this is not like flipping a switch and stopping ships.. it’s not the Strait of Hormuz situation..
This is more political signaling than physical control. Somalia is saying: “we stand with palestine, and we are willing to escalate diplomatically.” And that fits perfectly with its history.
Since independence, somalia has: never recognized israel,consistently backed palestine, aligned with arab and muslim bloc positions, no normalization., no quiet diplomacy shift,
just a steady line for decades.
Why Bab al-Mandeb still matters here; Even if somalia cannot fully block it ;
1. markets reaction,
shipping risk goes up → insurance goes up → oil prices feel it
2. global attention spikes
because this chokepoint handles a huge % of trade between europe and asia
3. pressure narrative builds
more countries signaling → more instability around trade routes
The real takeaway..
this is not somalia shutting down global trade..
this is somalia joining the wider regional pressure campaign..
another voice saying:
“we are not neutral in this.”
and that’s how these things usually escalate..
not one country closing a route overnight..
but multiple countries slowly turning **political support into economic pressure signals**..
the strait is too big for somalia to control alone..
but the message is what matters..
and the message is clear:
even countries without military control are stepping into the geopolitical fight now..
