Egyptian President Sisi Pledges Egypt Ready to Defend Saudi Arabia Against Houthi Attacks, Requests Emergency Parliamentary Session

Analysis
Egypt's parliament is likely to vote by October 25 to authorize deploying forces to Saudi Arabia or a military operation in its defence. Confidence is high because independent outlets report consistently, Sisi made the request publicly, and a plenary session is already set for Sunday, though the wire-style texts overlap heavily and the Riyadh airport death toll differs between outlets. The authorization would be contingent on a Saudi request, so Cairo keeps control of timing and scale. It gains leverage with Riyadh and protects Suez Canal revenue, down about $11 billion since 2023, without joining the Makkah pact it says it is still studying. The undisclosed agenda leaves the scope of authorization unknown. The request may instead be political signaling to Riyadh and Gulf donors, with a broad, conditional authorization that never produces a deployment. A yes vote lets Riyadh count on possible Egyptian support and forces Houthi and Iranian planners to price in Egyptian involvement, while a no or a delay leaves Saudi Arabia reliant on its coalition and the Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani pact.