“According to the partial information we have, this explosion only affects the export of Egyptian gas to Israel,” Amit Mor, CEO and energy specialist at the Eco Energy consulting firm, told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night. “It was directed against Israel and will not affect future supplies of gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.”

During Saturday’s attack, the saboteurs used rocket-propelled grenades to puncture a hole in a section of the pipeline that normally directs gas to Israel, but whose supply had not yet been resumed from the previous attack, on July 12, Reuters reported. The gunmen arrived in two trucks but sped away from the site after being confronted by Egyptian troops.

There were no casualties, the report said.

“It is crucial to Israel that the Egyptian government establishes security control, especially in northern Sinai – and especially at the crossing point in Rafah on the Egyptian- Gazan border – to prevent the smuggling of an arsenal against Israel, and also to secure the natural gas pipeline to Israel,” Mor told the Post. “I think the major consumers and government all have given up on the supply of Egyptian gas to Israel.”

The gas supply to Israel had been due to resume shortly, according to Mor.