Israeli scientist Ellen Graber has spent years researching ways to save chocolate crops from climate change. But with the government slashing spending to fund its offensive in Gaza, her project is one of hundreds now hanging in the balance, AFP reports.

Graber’s research had already been hit by the Israeli offensive — she had to abandon her cacao plants when the area where they were grown was evacuated after the October 7 Hamas attack.

They survived weeks of drought-like conditions in a greenhouse. But the state-funded Volcani Institute where she works is now facing huge budget cuts.

The institute specialises in arid and desert environments, increasingly vital areas of study for a planet wracked by extreme weather caused by climate change. Now the government’s war budget means hundreds of the institute’s projects are under threat.