Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asked Parliament to authorize the deployment of forces to support Saudi Arabia’s defense amid an escalation of Houthi attacks against the kingdom. The request opens the possibility of Egyptian military involvement in the conflict, but does not yet amount to an approved troop deployment.
Al-Sisi said the mission would be defensive and would take place only if Saudi Arabia requested assistance. The proposal comes as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue attacks with drones and missiles on Saudi airports and oil infrastructure.
The authorization has constitutional requirements: to deploy the armed forces on a combat mission outside the country, the president must consult the National Defense Council and obtain the support of two-thirds of Parliament. This process distinguishes the political willingness to support the kingdom from the legal possibility of mobilizing units.
The National Defense Council met on Sunday, chaired by al-Sisi. The Egyptian presidency said the body examined the regional escalation and offered the necessary and possible forms of support to protect Saudi Arabia’s security, stability, resources, and territorial integrity, as well as its Islamic holy sites.
Parliament also held an emergency session on Sunday. Although it was scheduled to vote on the resolution this Tuesday, the decision was postponed until next Monday. For now, the outstanding step is legislative authorization, not the execution of a military operation.
The proposal faces domestic criticism. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party instructed its parliamentary bloc to abstain, saying it considers the information it received about the mission’s scope, costs, and risks, as well as the measures planned to protect Egyptian forces, insufficient.
Image: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, in a file photo from October 2018.
