President El-Sisi has issued Law No. 2 of 2026 amending some provisions of the Military and National Service Law, increasing fines for draft evasion and failure to report for reserve duty.
The amendments, published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, also expand military service exemptions to cover additional categories of families of those killed, permanently disabled, or missing in war, terrorist operations, or service.
The amendments replace Article 49 so that anyone who evades conscription after turning 30 will face imprisonment and a fine of no less than 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($380) and no more than 100,000 pounds ($1,900), or one of those two penalties. Previously, the penalty was imprisonment and a fine ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 pounds ($58 to $190).
The law also stiffens the penalty for failing to report for reserve service, stipulating that anyone who fails to report without an acceptable excuse will face imprisonment and a fine of no less than 10,000 pounds and no more than 20,000 pounds, or one of those two penalties.
It also introduces new exemptions from military service for the eldest son or eldest brother in families of citizens who were killed or suffered permanent total disability in war or terrorist operations.
The new law further exempts from military service the sons and brothers of officers, conscripts, volunteers, military college students, and police personnel who died or suffered total disability because of service.
It also grants a temporary exemption to the eldest eligible brother or son of those missing in war or terrorist operations, with that exemption ending immediately if the missing person returns or is confirmed to be alive.
Prior to the amendments, permanent exemptions applied to those medically unfit for service; the only son of a deceased father or a father permanently unable to work; the eldest eligible brother or son of a citizen killed or permanently disabled in military operations; and the eldest eligible brother or son of an officer, conscript, or volunteer who died or was permanently disabled due to service.
