The Court of Cassation has ordered the retrial of former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy in the Egypt-Israel gas case.

Hussein Salem and Sameh Fahmy were both sentenced to 15 years in jail in June 2012 for squandering public funds in a gas deal with Israel.

Salem and Fahmy submitted appeals against their original convictions and the court ordered the retrial.

Egypt agreed to provide Israel with natural gas in 2005 in a deal built on the landmark 1979 peace accords. The public prosecution claimed the agreement lost Egypt over $714 million.

Salem, a founding shareholder of East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) which supplied Israel with gas from June 2008, was accused of collaborating with EMG to profiteer from gas deals with Israel.

The business tycoon was described by ex-justice minister Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi as the man who holds "the keys to corruption in Egypt."

Egypt unilaterally terminated its natural gas export contract with Israel in April 2012.

Correction: Mubarak-era business tycoon Hussein Salem still faces a 15-year sentence and has not appealed his verdict.