With tourism almost at a standstill due to Israel’s war with Hamas, the Maltese general manager of Tel Aviv’s Intercontinental David is no longer welcoming many tourists. 

Instead, Franco Vella is hosting evacuees unable to stay in their homes, the Thai embassy repatriating its citizens and high-profile diplomats like US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushing for a peace deal.

And the luxury hotelier is doing all this with a “heavy reduction in staff” as several employees were military reservists called up to serve.

Vella had been living in Tel Aviv for 10 years when everything changed on October 7.

“I was woken up by a call from my assistant, who was rambling about what was happening in the south and about taking security measures in the hotel,” he recalls. 

“While I was listening to him, I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘what the hell is he talking about?’ yet all I could tell him was ‘okay’, ‘all right’, okay’.

“When he got off the phone, I turned to my wife and told her something big was going on. We were asleep and did not hear the sirens to evacuate, as rockets were being fired at Tel Aviv.” Vella turned on the TV and “we heard what had just happened” in southern Israel. 

On October 7, Israel was observing the festival of Sukkot, a holiday that celebrates the autumn harvest and marks the 40 years Israelites spent wandering in Sinai after they escaped from Egypt.

Approximately 1,200 civilians and uniformed personnel were killed by Hamas militants who had breached the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 200 people were taken hostage from various towns, kibbutzim and from the Nova Music Festival. At the same time, Hamas fired about 3,000 rockets at Israel, some aimed at Tel Aviv.

Vella, Cecilia Attard-Pirotta – Malta’s ambassador to Israel – and the mission’s first secretary are believed to have been the only Maltese citizens resident in Tel Aviv at the time. Vella’s wife is Israeli.

The gravity of the crisis sparked that day was not initially fully appreciated by Vella, who has been working in Israel’s luxury hotel industry since 2014, having previously been general manager of the Marriott International, Sheraton Grand Tel Aviv, and since last August as GM of the InterContinental David Tel Aviv.

“Rockets being fired towards Tel Aviv is nothing new. This is something we experience every couple of months. I’ve been through a number of these in the 10 years that I’ve been here,” he says.

“When I first arrived in 2014 there was a similar situation where war broke out [in Gaza] that lasted for 54 days.”

Soon, the horror of that Saturday morning became apparent. 

The major difference between this situation and the 2014 war was the enormous number of deaths and the fact that the government declared war on Hamas.

A wall in Tel Aviv showing pictures of people taken hostage by Hamas. Photo: AFP

At the same time, Hamas called on Arab countries to join their fight and for the Arab population in Israel to rise up. Neither did. The October 7 attack killed around 1,200 in Israel, sparking a siege of Gaza which has left around 30,000 dead.

“It was a very uncertain situation, it was extremely tense, and you just didn’t know what was going to happen. It was really frightening,” recalls Vella.

There was also great uncertainty whether the same thing that was happening on the Gaza border could be happening elsewhere. People were advised to stay indoors and to be very cautious because there could be infiltrators that may have made their way much farther than the Gaza border settlements and had not been identified yet.

Vella activated a “full security protocol” at the InterContinental – which is also his and his family’s home – that included screening all visitors entering the premises. Owing to the holiday, the hotel was operating at about 80 per cent occupancy, with a mix of nationalities. In addition to the locals, it had guests from the US, South America and Europe.

As soon as guests learned of the situation, they started to make plans to leave Israel at once. But the problem was made worse by airlines suspending services to Israel from  October 8.

Within days, most of the guests at InterContinental, and other hotels in Tel Aviv and beyond, had left. Some hotels closed.

When Hezbollah entered the conflict and began shelling Israel from Lebanon, the government ordered the evacuation of residents from northern Israel and asked hotels to provide accommodation.

Franco Vella, left, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

“Some of the hotels that had previously closed reopened to house these evacuees from the north and south,” says Vella. Although the InterContinental hosted some of them, Thai nationals made up the bulk of its clientele.

"Israeli military, even out of uniform, must carry their firearm and this can be disconcerting"

About 30,000 Thais worked in Israel’s agricultural sector and around 5,000 were in areas close to the Gaza Strip when Hamas launched its onslaught on October 7. 

Thirty-nine were killed and 32 others were taken hostage. Thai nationals were the largest group of foreigners among the hostages – 23 of them have since been freed.

The Thai embassy, meanwhile, set up a consular office at the InterContinental to process the repatriation of its nationals, many of whom had managed to escape from the south – where 75 per cent of Israel’s vegetables are grown – and were waiting at the hotel for charter flights back home.

“Around 10,000 Thai nationals came through our doors and many stayed for a few nights before leaving.”

Since the start of the war, the InterContinental David has welcomed high-profile visitors due to its reputation for safety.  Blinken stayed there twice and the hotel hosted the advance party for President Joe Biden’s visit.

After the initial frenetic pace that kept Vella and his beleaguered staff busy in October and November, the hotel’s occupancy plummeted. 

“At the moment we can’t really plan much marketing or promotions because we have no idea what will happen,” Vella says.

Apart from the significant impact on business, it has also taken a toll on day-to-day life.

“You’re always a bit on edge, and you never know what’s going to happen,” Vella explains. 

“Initially the atmosphere was extremely tense. When you’re walking in the streets you’re very conscious of who’s around you, especially if someone’s running towards you. Israeli military, even out of uniform, must carry their firearm and this can be disconcerting,” adds Vella.

“And you never know whether you’ll get caught outside when a siren goes off and you have to run for shelter. Despite the fact that Israel has got a very effective Iron Dome [security] system, something could go wrong.”

Vella goes on to explain that when an alarm goes off “you have one and a half minutes to get to a shelter. That’s how long a missile takes to travel from Gaza to Tel Aviv. And if you can’t reach a shelter, the advice is to lie down on the ground.

The Maltese manager does not particularly enjoy lying down, and eagerly awaits the day when everyone in the area will be at peace and he does not have to worry about people running towards him.