Pipe-line supplying natural gas to Israel from Egypt attacked for sixth time • One man Injured by blast • Government mulls placing additional troops along Egypt border.The natural gas pipeline between running from Egypt to Jordan and Israel was attacked by unknown assailiants for the sixth time Tuesday morning, Reuters reported. Witnesses to the blast told police that three men opened fire on the pipeline, which is located in the port town of El-Arish in the northern Sinai peninsula. Flames from the explosion reached a height of 15 meters, and Reuters reported that one man suffered burns and was admitted to a local hospital.
It is suspected that the repeated attacks are motivated by opposition to the Egyptian government's gas deal with Israel.
In a similar attack in July, when security guards were forced away from the pipeline at gunpoint before it was blown up. According to Reuters, the extent of the damage from the most recent attack is not yet clear. Egyptian forces have been searching for assailants from the string of attacks for the past month, and reportedly have captured several Islamic militants planning to execute additional pipeline attacks.
The natural gas pipeline is operated by Egypt's gas transport company, Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company EGAS, which has been forced to repeatedly repair the pipeline. With 78 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, Egypt has the third-highest supply in Africa, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Egypt exported 650 billion cubic feet (18 billion cubic meters) of gas in 2009, of which 30 percent traveled through the pipeline to Israel or via a separate link to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
In related news, Israel Hayom has learned Israel's government is considering asking Egypt to help prevent illegal infiltrators from breaching Israel's southern border. In an internal government document made available to Israel Hayom, Minister of Justice Yaakov Neeman also implored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to station additional Israeli troops on the Israel-Egypt border. The letter was drafted following a discussion on Sunday about the rising number of infiltrators entering Israel via the Sinai. The letter was also sent to Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and Minister of Internal Affairs Eli Yishai.
In August, a team of terrorists from Gaza crossed the Sinai and entered Israel via its porous southern border with Egypt before launching a multi-pronged attack that left eight Israelis dead.
The document said, "In light of Israel's agreeing to Egyptian military forces patrolling the Sinai, it would be appropriate to demand that the Egyptians provide additional forces so as to halt the flow of infiltrators, stopping them before they enter the area, and even before they enter the Sinai." The document went on to say, "We must also consider adding additional Israeli military forces along the border in an effort to stop the influx of infiltrators."
In addition, Neeman has given the Finance, Defense and Public Security Ministries one week to settle their disagreements relating to a detention camp for 8,000 infiltrators, which is in the works along the border with Egypt. While the facility was approved by the government nearly a year ago, disputes between the ministries have stymied its construction.
