Southern Israel was filled with blood and death. Brilliant red wildflowers now bloom among the ashes

By MELANIE LIDMAN
Associated Press

REIM, Southern Israel (AP) — As spring approaches each year, wildflowers erupt across Israel. Nowhere is the show more dramatic than in southern Israel, near Gaza, where brilliant red anemones burst forth with such intensity that rolling hills seem to grow red carpets. The flowers are especially symbolic this year, during the Israel-Hamas war. Nineteen years ago, Vered Libstein started a festival honoring these flowers with her husband. On Oct. 7, she lost her husband, her 19-year-old son, her mother and her nephew. The flower festival has been called off. Coming back to see the flowers this year pierces her heart, she says, but is a reminder that life continues and eventually she will return home and bloom again.