Egypt Votes to Stand Behind Riyadh as Houthi Strikes Escalate
Egypt's House of Representatives voted on Monday, October 26, to authorize President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take the measures needed to help defend Saudi Arabia. The resolution passed by a two-thirds majority in a plenary session chaired by Speaker Hisham Badawi, following a formal request from al-Sisi. Lawmaker Mostafa Bakri wrote on X that the mandate empowers the president to send Egyptian troops to the kingdom. No deployment has been announced; the vote is an authorization, not a dispatch order.
The parliamentary statement says any steps will be taken in coordination with Riyadh and aimed at defending the kingdom's territory, sovereignty and holy sites. The mandate applies should Saudi Arabia request assistance. That conditional wording matters: Cairo is offering a standing commitment, while leaving the timing and scale to a Saudi invitation that has not yet been reported.
Sisi has repeatedly framed the move as purely defensive. "I'm not speaking about fighting anyone or attacking anyone. I'm speaking only for defense," he said earlier this month, adding that Egypt "will carry out any measure to protect Saudi Arabia." The line follows the October 18 meeting of the National Defense Council at Al-Ittihadia Palace, which pledged "all necessary and possible" support for the kingdom's security, resources and territorial integrity, alongside intensified political and diplomatic efforts.
Lawmakers deliberated in three closed-door sessions, two last week at Sisi's request and a third on Monday before the vote. The opposition Egyptian Social Democratic Party said its 11-member parliamentary bloc would abstain, citing insufficient information about the mission's objectives, scope, duration and costs, as well as the risks to Egyptian troops. The party called for prioritizing diplomacy over open-ended military commitments.
The authorization follows weeks of intensifying Houthi attacks on Saudi territory. Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Maliki said on October 25 that its forces intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, a drone in the Riyadh region and a cruise missile aimed at the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait, with explosions heard in the capital. Saudi Civil Defence said two people were injured by falling shrapnel in Khamis Mushait and Ahad Rafidah. Earlier, attacks on October 6 and 7 killed one Sudanese national and injured eight civilians at King Khalid International Airport, while strikes on Abha International Airport killed two women from Algeria and Morocco and wounded 28 others. Saudi authorities put the death toll from the recent wave at no fewer than 19.
Analysts say the deployment, if it happens, is likely to remain limited, with Riyadh valuing political backing and a symbolic Egyptian presence on Saudi soil as much as firepower. For Cairo, the vote converts the defense council's October 18 pledge into legal cover for action. What comes next depends on three things: whether Riyadh formally requests troops, what form any Egyptian contingent takes, and whether diplomacy can slow a cycle in which Houthi missile and drone salvos and coalition strikes on sites around Sanaa keep feeding each other.