CAIRO, Aug 24 (Aswat Masriya) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that Egypt does not export, nor does it import natural gas to and from Israel, the state news agency reported.

"Egypt no longer exports natural gas to Israel," Sisi said in a meeting with state-owned and independent newspapers editors in chief earlier today, according to MENA. 

He explained that their might be problems "concerning arbitration, given that some contracting countries may resort to international arbitration if a country does not commit to its gas agreement."

Egypt announced in 2012 that it canceled a 20-year-long agreement of exporting natural gas to Israel that it signed in 2005. 

The decision was supported by Egyptians, but both sides said that commercial disputes were behind this step and not political disagreement.  

The opposition has criticized this deal saying that the Egyptian gas was sold at cheaper prices than the market.  

Toppled President Hosni Mubarak, his two sons and Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem are being tried on corruption charges related to the export of gas to Israel.

The pipelines for exportation have been attacked frequently since the 2011 uprising that broke out on January 25.