Egypt cancels Israeli gas contract

Termination of 20-year deal, which provided 40% of Israel's natural gas, seen as sign of fraying relations between allies

Egyptians call on the government to stop exporting gas to Israel in a protest outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo last year. Photograph: Mohamed Abd el-Ghany/Reuters

Egypt has cancelled a 20-year contract to supply Israel with natural gas in a move interpreted as a sign of increasingly fragile relations between the allies.

Both Egyptian and Israeli officials said the reason for the termination of the deal, which was signed in 2005 and provided 40% of Israel's natural gas, was a dispute over payments between private companies. But the governments were trying to prevent it escalating into a political crisis.

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