Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz on Sunday expressed "deep concern" about Egypt's cancellation of the gas supply deal to Israel, which could lead to serious energy shortage across the country.

Egypt's national gas company EGAS on Sunday announced that it was backing off the long-term deal to supply Israel with gas which was signed along with the peace treaty between the two countries in 1979.

According to local media, the reasons behind the cancellation -- as EGAS told Ampal-American Israel Corporation, a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), are the continuous sabotages to the cross-border pipeline which have been taking place since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February 2011.

"This is a dangerous precedent that diminishes the peace treaty, " Steiniz was quoted as saying on Sunday evening.

Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz also charged against the cancellation. "It is a new low in the relations between the countries and a clear violation of the peace treaty," Mofaz told The Jerusalem Post daily.

Senior officials warned that a cancellation of the gas deal could cause energy shortages this summer, although the Minister of Energy and Water Uzi Landau said that "Israel is working towards cementing its energy-related independence."