Egypt Pledges Support to Saudi Arabia as Houthi Attacks Escalate

Egypt’s National Defense Council said on Sunday that it will back its close ally Saudi Arabia as fighting with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen escalates sharply. The clash is the latest front in the wider Iran war.

Saudi Arabia has been asking its partners for military help. The Houthis have repeatedly struck airports and oil facilities across the kingdom with drones and missiles that can change course mid-flight, making them hard to intercept. At least 19 people have been killed, thousands of flights have been disrupted, and global markets have been shaken.

Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister met the president of the United Arab Emirates to discuss strengthening ties, according to the UAE state news agency WAM. The two countries have had strained relations in recent years, having backed rival factions within the Yemeni coalition fighting the Houthis.

The Egyptian announcement came about a month after a visit by the Saudi crown prince. Chaired by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, the council resolved to provide “all possible forms of support” so Saudi Arabia can protect its security, according to a presidential statement. No specifics were given. On Saturday, el-Sisi asked parliament to authorize deploying troops and military equipment abroad.

Later on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had spoken by phone with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, about “the latest regional developments.”

Civilians caught in the crossfire

The escalation has put civilians at risk in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which has slid back into civil war. Aden, the interim capital of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has had its airport and a government-used palace attacked over the past week.

On Sunday, an airstrike in Saada province, in the rebel-held north, killed at least nine people, including five children and two women, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry. Houthi spokesman Anees al-Asbahi said the strike hit a house in the Sahar district and wounded 19 others, 11 of them children, some in critical condition. He blamed Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom did not immediately respond. Footage aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah channel showed people clearing rubble with their bare hands and pulling two young people out.

The rebels said attacks by Saudi-led forces had killed or wounded more than 30 people in the previous 24 hours. Their military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed 110 missiles or airstrikes had hit civilian sites in Sanaa and other cities. These claims could not be independently verified.

Across the border, a Saudi helicopter gunship crashed near Najran in the southwest, killing its two crew members. A Saudi military spokesman blamed a technical malfunction, though the Houthis had earlier claimed they shot it down. Saudi Civil Defense later said a projectile fired by the Houthis landed in a residential area of Najran province, wounding six people.

Blame, mediation, and a stalled truce

The Houthis have resumed attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, accusing the kingdom of backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the civil war. The rebels have also seized more territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route that serves as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis’ chief negotiator, Mohamed Abdulsalam, blamed Saudi Arabia for the escalation. In a social media post, he said the rebels had warned the kingdom against striking the Houthi-held Sanaa airport in mid-July. That strike prevented an Iranian flight carrying a Houthi delegation from landing on its way back from the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader, who was killed in the opening strikes of the war in February.

The Houthis, angered by a long-standing Saudi blockade on their territory, have declared their own blockade of the kingdom.

According to Abdulsalam, Oman proposed a five-day truce during which the two sides would meet and settle their dispute. He said the Houthis would halt attacks if Saudi Arabia agreed to “humanitarian demands,” without providing details. He added that Saudi Arabia had shown no sign it was ready to respond constructively, and the rebels soon launched their offensive down the Red Sea coast.

Last week, a Saudi diplomat told a rare briefing that the kingdom had called for a meeting with the Houthis in Oman in July “to resolve outstanding differences and bring an end to this escalation,” but the rebels refused to take part.

On Sunday, Al-Azhar, the Egyptian institution widely regarded as the foremost authority in the Sunni Muslim world, called for the formation of an “urgent mediation committee” to end conflicts across the Arab region.