Egypt’s Parliament Delays Vote on Military Support for Saudi Arabia as Houthi Attacks Continue

CAIRO — Egypt’s parliament on Sunday postponed a vote on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request to authorize military support for Saudi Arabia, two lawmakers told Agence France-Presse, with deliberations expected to continue into Monday.

The session had been convened after Sisi asked lawmakers on Saturday to approve support for Saudi Arabia’s defense if the kingdom requested it. Saudi Arabia has faced near-daily attacks from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis since early October, including strikes on Riyadh’s international airport and the state oil company Saudi Aramco, according to Reuters.

Lawmaker Ibrahim Kholeif told AFP the session was extended so that all members could speak and express their views, adding that parliamentarians were mostly in support of the move. Another lawmaker, Maha Abdel Nasser, said proceedings would resume Monday “to allow all lawmakers to be heard.”

Egyptian media reported that deliberations could run into Tuesday. Both lawmakers said no details were being discussed about what form Egypt’s military support for Saudi Arabia might take.

A presidency ready to act, pending a vote

The presidency said Sunday that Egypt stood ready to provide Saudi Arabia with “all necessary and possible forms of support to defend its security and stability, protect its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites.” The statement followed a meeting of Egypt’s National Defence Council chaired by Sisi and attended by the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister and the army chief, Reuters reported.

Sisi requested the emergency parliamentary session at a military academy graduation ceremony on Saturday, saying it was “inconceivable” for Egypt to stand by as Saudi Arabia’s security and stability were threatened. He said Egypt would act only if asked by Riyadh, and in line with guidance from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited Cairo in September.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are close strategic and economic partners. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states provided billions of dollars in aid, central-bank deposits and investments to Egypt after the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, according to Reuters. Egypt also joined the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015, playing a limited combat role.

Fighting widens on several fronts

The parliamentary debate is unfolding as attacks on both sides intensify. The Saudi-led coalition said two pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed near the Yemen border on Sunday. The coalition attributed the crash to a technical malfunction, while the Houthis said they had shot the aircraft down, according to AFP reporting carried by The News. The coalition also said it had intercepted drones over Riyadh and the oil-rich Eastern Province and two ballistic missiles aimed at Khamis Mushait in the kingdom’s south.

A Houthi projectile struck a residential neighborhood in the southern Saudi city of Najran, injuring at least six people and damaging homes and vehicles, the kingdom’s civil defense agency said. The Houthis’ Saba news agency said an alleged Saudi airstrike on a home in Saada governorate in northern Yemen killed nine people and wounded 16, most of them women and children — a claim the coalition has not addressed.

The attacks have disrupted daily life in the Saudi capital. Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport remained closed after 13 people were killed in a Houthi strike last week, schools in the capital extended online learning into a second week, and the 99-story Kingdom Centre ordered office tenants to work remotely until further notice.

Military expert Samir Farag told AFP that Egyptian assistance could range from intelligence and military advisers to ammunition, spare parts and weapons, and eventually troop deployments. Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said in a post on X that he had discussed regional developments and the importance of de-escalation in a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and Agence France-Presse via The News.