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Israel refuses to end arm sales to Myanmar despite state crackdown on Rohingya

The Israeli High Court ruled on the petition Wednesday, however the judges hearing the case had issued a gag order a day earlier.

Israel has refused to stop selling arms to Myanmar even though the state has been accused by the United Nations of "textbook ethnic cleansing" of the minority Muslim Rohingya population.

A group of activists in Israel filed a petition in the country’s High Court of Justice demanding an end to the sales but a senior Israeli official Shosh Shmueli said that the court should not interfere in Israel's foreign relations.

While the Israeli High Court is set to rule on the petition Wednesday, the judges hearing the case had issued a gag order a day earlier at the request of Israeli government officials, preventing the case from being discussed in public.

In recent years, Israeli arms companies have sold more than 100 battle tanks, as well as patrol boats and light weapons to Myanmar’s military.

The Israeli company, TAR Ideal Concepts has also trained trained Burmese forces in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, where the military has used excessive force and violence against the Rohingyas.

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