Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel attacked for 14th time

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JERUSALEM (JTA) — Egypt’s pipeline carrying gas to Israel and Jordan was attacked for the 14th time in more than a year.

The explosion occurred Monday morning at the entrance to El Arish in the northern Sinai Peninsula, Reuters reported. The attack comes days after a rocket fired from the Sinai struck a residential area in the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.

The pipeline has been closed since a similar attack on Feb. 5. It has been blown up 14 times since uprisings began in February 2011 against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed. No arrests have been made in any of the attacks.

The supply of gas to Israel has been halted numerous times in the last year, leading to a scramble to find alternate fuel sources to produce electricity that are more expensive.

Egypt supplies Israel with more than 40 percent of its natural gas needs to produce electricity; electricity prices have risen by more than 20 percent in Israel since the attacks began.

 

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