Parched land at Cueva de Las Niñas reservoir in the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, in March 2025. Photograph: Borja Suárez/Reuters
Exclusive: UCL scientists find large swathes of southern Europe are drying up, with ‘far-reaching’ implications
Vast swathes of Europe’s water reserves are drying up, a new analysis using two decades of satellite data reveals, with freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK.
Scientists at University College London (UCL), working with Watershed Investigations and the Guardian, analysed 2002–24 data from satellites, which track changes in Earth’s gravitational field.
Because water is heavy, shifts in groundwater, rivers, lakes, soil moisture and glaciers show up in the signal, allowing the satellites to effectively “weigh” how much water is stored.
The findings reveal a stark imbalance: the north and north-west of Europe – particularly Scandinavia, parts of the UK and Portugal – have been getting wetter, while large swathes of the south and south-east, including parts of the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Romania and Ukraine, have been drying out.
Climate breakdown can be seen in the data, the scientists say. “When we compare the total terrestrial water storage data with climate datasets, the trends broadly correlate,” said Mohammad Shamsudduha, professor of water crisis and risk reduction at UCL.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Palestine solidarity protest in Romania, 2025. Source: Solidaritate Romania-Palestina/Facebook
Palestine solidarity groups in Romania and beyond are launching a campaign to end ties with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.
A coalition of Romanian and international groups standing in solidarity with Palestine has launched the “Elbit Out!” campaign, aiming to expel Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems from Romania. Elbit is one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers and is present in Romania with three companies, the organizers explain. “There, it manufactures components for weapons that have been tested on Palestinians and are partly still used in Gaza today.”
According to statements of Israeli officials, Elbit facilities in Brașov and Bacău, along with a production site in Măgurele outside Bucharest, made Romania the company’s third-largest manufacturing hub in 2021 – behind only Israel and the United States. The arms producer’s presence has been a constant for years, with early 2010s reports already highlighting its peculiar position in Romania.
“The continuation of these cooperative relations between Romania and the Israeli state violates Romania’s international legal obligations and the fundamental principles of human rights,” campaigners warn. “Through the arms trade, Romania is an active partner in genocide, in maintaining the apartheid regime, and in the systematic oppression of the Palestinian civilian population.”
While the campaign is demanding Romanian authorities end ties with Elbit, it also stresses that complicity in Israel’s war crimes extends further. One issue is the scale of military exports from Romania to Israel. Activists point out that in the past two years alone, these have amounted to dozens of millions of euros. Such transfers have been another steady feature of the bilateral relationship. In 2012, Israel was Romania’s third-largest arms client. “While other export destinations decreased in volume, as all European arms export decreased due to the economic crisis, Israel continued to be a good customer of the Romanian arms industry,” Wendela de Vries from the Dutch campaign Stop Arms Trade noted in LeftEast in 2014. “It continued buying components for air-to-air missiles, military ground vehicles, and testing equipment for military planes.”
At the same time, Romania has consistently purchased Israeli military technology, much of it tested on Palestinians living under occupation. This cooperation has included technology exchange for drones and air defense systems, involving not only Elbit but also Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Most recently, over €2 billion was awarded to Rafael in a contract for an air defense system to be deployed in Romania. The deal will draw funding from Romania’s strained public budget, but is also likely to benefit from the European Union’s recent armament programs, according to early reports.
As a result of this background, the campaign will also focus on halting all military imports and exports between Romania and Israel, as well as terminating bilateral military agreements. After a public inauguration on October 5, with the participation of representatives from BDS Campaign Europe and Law for Palestine, it will include field work with trade unions, legal petitions, and engaged advocacy. It is expected to culminate with a conference focusing on solidarity with Palestine and internationalism, organized as a counterpoint to the Black Sea Defense, Aerospace and Security International Exhibition in Bucharest in mid-May 2026.
The initiative is coordinated by Palestine Solidarity Cluj-Napoca in cooperation with Solidaritate România-Palestina, Moldova pentru Palestina, Absorbante pentru Toate, Blocul Tineretului Muncitoresc, Căși Sociale ACUM!, Colectiva Urzica, Fundraisers for Falastin RO, Grupul de Acțiune Socialistă, Partidul SENS, and Platforma L.E.F.T. It has also secured endorsements from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, Stop ReArm Europe, and the International People’s Assembly (IPA), showing that the push to end European complicity in Israel’s crimes is growing stronger by the day.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Members of an international diplomatic delegation scramble for cover after coming under Israeli fire during a May 21, 2025 visit to the besieged Jenin refugee camp in the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine. (Photo: Mohammad Ateeq/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
Among those shot at were representatives of three nations that threatened “concrete actions” if Israel doesn’t end its assault and siege on Gaza and others that support a genocide case against the country.
Israeli occupation forces fired what they called “warning shots” at a large delegation of international diplomats visiting the besieged Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Wednesday, an incident many critics said was an attempt to intimidate countries that just two days earlier issued an ultimatum to stop annihilating Gaza and others that have joined a genocide case against Israel.
Palestinian officials were briefing a group of more than 20 diplomats about the crisis in the illegally occupied West Bank—where Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians including hundreds of children since October 2023 while pushing ahead with massive land theft and colonization—when they came under fire.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the delegation “deviated” from the route approved by Israeli occupation authorities “and entered an area where they were not authorized to be,” prompting Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers to fire “warning shots to distance them away.”
“The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused,” the ministry added.
Israeli soldiers intentionally fired at a delegation of about 30 Arab & EU diplomats, ambassadors and consuls, visiting Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank. Israel claims “it was an accident” and that they fired “warning shots” because they “felt in danger”. Israel was trying to intimidate them.
Israeli media reported IDF troops fired shots in the air. However, video footage of the incident appears to show soldiers aiming their guns and firing straight ahead in the direction of the diplomats as they scrambled for cover. Israeli officials have often been caught lying about the actions of IDF troops in Palestine.
The delegation included diplomats from the European Union and countries including Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, India, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Another video documenting the moment the diplomats and representatives from over 24 countries and the EU were intimidated by Israeli soldiers as they gathered in front of the besieged Jenin Camp. pic.twitter.com/5uJTOE9pRi
On Monday, three of those countries—France, the United Kingdom, and Canada—issued a rare joint statement condemning Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the ongoing Israeli campaign to conquer and indefinitely occupy all of Gaza and ethnically cleanse much of its population.
On Tuesday, the U.K. announced it is suspending negotiations with Israel on a free trade agreement, explaining that “it is not possible to advance discussions on a new, upgraded FTA” with a government “that is pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza including extermination and forced starvation.
The U.K. additionally sanctioned three far-right Israeli extremists, including settler leader Daniella Weiss, as well as three illegal settlement outposts and two groups “that have supported, incited, and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.”
Also on Tuesday, European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas—who is the E.U.’s foreign policy chief—said the 27-nation bloc would review its political and economic agreement with Israel in light of the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza.
Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, Spain, and Turkey have either joined or expressed support for the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice—which last year found that Israel’s 58-year occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza is an illegal form of apartheid that must be ended as soon as possible.
France's Foreign Minister confirms that Israeli soldiers shot at EU ambassadors and diplomats in Jenin.
Had any other country done this, it would have been considered an act of war. Imagine if Russia had done this?
Israel’s 592-day assault and siege on Gaza has left more than 189,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and over 2 million others forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called Wednesday’s “heinous crime” against the diplomats.
“The delegation was undertaking an official mission to observe and assess the humanitarian situation and document the ongoing violations perpetrated by the occupying forces against the Palestinian people,” the ministry said. “This deliberate and unlawful act constitutes a blatant and grave breach of international law and of the fundamental principles of diplomatic relations as enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
Kallas said Wednesday that “any threats on diplomats’ lives are unacceptable.”
“Israel is also a signatory to the Vienna Convention, I mean the obligation to guarantee the security of all foreign diplomats,” Kallas noted. “We definitely call on Israel to investigate this incident and also hold accountable [those] who are responsible for this.”
The governments of other countries whose diplomats were targeted on Wednesday condemned the incident, with some, including France and Italy, summoning their Israeli ambassadors.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
