CAIRO, Apr 27, 2011 (AFP) - Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Wednesday demanding Egypt sever ties with and end gas exports to the Jewish state.

Massed on a bridge next to the high-rise building where the embassy is located, they chanted: "the people demand the cancellation of normalisation."

They also chanted: "the gas must stop," in reference to natural gas exports through a Sinai pipeline that unidentified saboteurs blew up earlier in the day.

One of the protesters, left-wing blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy, said the demonstration came in response to recent remarks by Israeli President Shimon Peres, who praised the Egyptian revolt that toppled the government in February.

"Peres issued a statement recently calling on Egyptian youth to normalise (with Israel), and this is the Egyptian youth's response," he said.

The protest, which started from nearby Cairo University, was the latest in a series of protests outside the embassy since mass demonstrations toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

Hamalawy said the protesters were heartened by the sabotage of the pipeline, which supplies Israel with about 40 percent of its natural gas in a controversial deal now under investigation by Egypt's state prosecutor.

"Obviously everyone is celebrating," he said. "If the government won't cut it off, the people will."

The pipeline also supplies Jordan.

The investigation into a 2005 deal has extended to Mubarak himself and two former oil ministers who will face trial on charges of selling the gas to Israel at a low price, resulting in a loss of revenue to the state.

Egypt was the first Arab country that established diplomatic relations with Israel, in 1979, but Israel remains deeply unpopular with many Egyptians because of its policies towards Palestinians.

A recent poll by the Pew Research Centre found that 54 percent of 1,000 Egyptian surveyed wanted the annulment of the peace treaty.

Israel, which supported Mubarak up until his ouster, has expressed its concern about what it says are anti-Israel statements by Egyptian officials.

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Copyright AFP 2011.