August 16, 2012

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Security forces resumed the search for the cause of two loud explosions in Eilat, believed to have been caused by a long-range Grad rocket attack.

The search resumed Thursday morning after being halted late Wednesday night; the two loud explosions that rocked Eilat Wednesday night are believed to have been rockets fired from the Sinai.

No reports of injuries or damage were logged following the alleged attack in the southern Israeli city, a popular resort area. A beach concert by the popular Israeli singer Eyal Golan was stopped after 10 minutes due to the alleged threat.

An Islamist terror group operating in the Sinai on Thursday claimed responsibility for firing rockets into southern Israel. The Salafi Front also claimed responsibility for more than a dozen attacks on the gas pipeline between Egypt and Israel.

The group denied any connection to an Aug. 5 attack, when terrorists killed 16 Egyptian soldiers and crossed into Israel down the road from the Kerem Shalom crossing, where they were killed by Israeli security forces. The gas pipeline between Israel and Egypt has been blown up at least 14 times in the Sinai since last February.

The Israeli army has stepped up security in the area since Egypt’s revolution began last year. In addiion, Israel issued a travel warning to its citizens this month regarding the Sinai.

Rockets have been fired at Eilat and its environs from the Sinai several times in the past two years. In June, two rockets landed in open areas near Mitzpe Ramon and Ovda, near Eilat. In April, at least two rockets struck Eilat in an empty area near an apartment building. In 2010, rockets struck both Eilat and Aqaba, Jordan.
 
 

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