Two-hundred tons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Aqaba from Jordan's Aqaba port on Tuesday, raising fears in Israel of possible contamination on Eilat's beaches and harm to its coral reef.
Initial reports suggested that the oil spill was drifting southward toward the beaches of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, but due to the proximity of the spill, at least some of the oil is expected to reach Israeli beaches.
Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection began preparations to aid in cleanup and containment, but has yet to receive a request for assistance from Jordan where officials said they were responding to the incident themselves.