Egypt is burying a longstanding dispute with Israel by agreeing to pay a reduced fine of $500 million to state-owned Israel Electric Corp (IEC) over halted gas deliveries arising from the 2011 revolution, writes Nassir Shirkhani.

The deal comes at a time when Israeli companies are preparing to export gas to Egypt from their offshore fields.

State-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (Egpc) and its subsidiary Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) said the amount will be amortised over a period of eight and a half years in exchange for the Israeli company dropping all other claims resulting from a 2015 arbitration decision.