Maltese band stuck in Israel detail their tense departure following Hamas attack

Maltese metal band Damaged & Co. detailed their tour in Israel which was cut short on 7 October when Hamas launched its attack on Israel.

“Our world was turned upside down,” the band told MaltaToday, as they detailed how at one moment, they were focussing on their gigs around the north of Israel, and when the attacks started, their only concern was getting out of the country in one piece.

Damaged & Co. arrived in Tel Aviv three days before the deadly attacks, where they travelled northward to Haifa. “The weather was beautiful, it was practically summer,” in the multicultural city. After their first concert, the group travelled to Tel Aviv on 6 October.

On the day of the attacks, the band only immediately informed the Maltese Embassy and the foreign affairs ministry of their presence in Israel. “Her Excellency Cecilia Attard Pirotta was of great help to us, and she never cut contact with us,” the band said.

The group said that when news of the attacks had started to spread, their local friends were astonished and furious, however they were, “faithful that whatever happened, Israel would come out of the situation stronger.”

The locals’ biggest concerns revolved around their family and friends who were called to serve their country on the front lines. “Almost everyone suffered the loss of a love one,” they said, adding that despite the circumstances, they offered to help the Maltese band till the very end.

“As time went on, it was clear that this wasn’t a usual attack,” they said. Damaged & Co. stated that rockets started to fall on Jerusalem, and “in an attempt to close the airport, rockets started to fall near Tel Aviv,” where they were situated at the time.

The group started to monitor the missile attacks through an app. “When we heard sirens we went in between the blast doors and waited for the attacks to stop,” the band said, adding that the rockets would take a bit less than three minutes to reach Tel Aviv.

“We never saw rockets near us, but they sounded like fireworks,” they explained.

The band attempted to leave Israel as soon as possible, however they were worried as the airport in Tel Aviv was only operating flights from one terminal and airlines started to cancel flights due to security concerns. “The Embassy informed us that Israel’s national airline had a flight out of Tel Aviv on 9 October so we booked our place,” the group explained.

Damaged & Co. had also booked a passage on a ship leaving from Haifa to Cyprus, and they even considered travelling to a neighbouring country by car, but the idea was quickly tossed out.

When the day of their flight arrived, the band was surprised at the calm atmosphere within the airport despite all that was happening in the country. “We checked in around five hours before the flight and started to board the plane, but this wasn’t the end of our adventure.”

In fact, their flight left around 90 minutes late due to a puncture in the plane’s wheels. “We arrived in Slovenia about three and a half hours later and travelled to Croatia in a van, where we caught our flight to Malta on 11 October.”

The band explained that despite the dangerous situation they were in, their biggest concern was for their families in Malta, who were worried sick.

They said that the tension was palpable whenever sirens went off, and their trip to the Israeli airport was a tense affair as well.

“Our thoughts were and still are with the friends that we left in Israel. They’re living in constant fear, worried that they’re going to lose someone dear to them.”

“We hope this conflict ends as soon as possible,” they concluded.