Julie Anne San Jose, Rayver Cruz recount harrowing morning in Tel Aviv when Hamas attacked Israel

Julie Anne San Jose and Rayver Cruz are now safely back in the Philippines after being caught in the middle of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

On Friday’s “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda,” the Sparkle stars looked back on their short time in Israel.

“Nanduon po kami doon kasi magsho-show po kami kasama po si Rayver and of course, si Boobay," Julie Anne began.

"It’s called ‘Luv Trip Na, Laff Trip Pa.’ And matagal na pong naka-schedule itong show na ito. So, we were just very, very excited.” 

They arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 3 and quickly explored the Holy Land and its many sites. It was the couple's first time in Israel after all, and they were together. Among the places they visited were Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River.

“Sobrang excited namin na makita ‘yung mga kababayan natin don, ‘yung mga Kapuso natin na mga OFWS na talagang excited na makita ‘yung mga kapwa Pilipino nila,” Rayver added.

‘Luv Trip Na, Laff Trip Pa' was supposedly scheduled for the evening of October 7 at the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University. But at the morning, the conflict began.

“Ang bilis ng ano eh, mga pangyayari, Tito Boy,” Rayver said.

The couple was resting and recharging until their managers woke them up.

"Hindi nila alam kung papano nila kami gigisingin in a way na sabihin sa 'min na 'kailangan niyo nang bumangon kasi may giyera na',” Rayver added.

[They didn't know how to wake us up, to tell us to get moving because there was war already.]

Rayver said one of the organizers informed their team about what was happening outside their BnB.

Soon after, they started hearing the bombs.

“Kasabay na po kasi nun ‘yung siren, malakas po talaga ‘yung siren. And then, in one minute, dapat makapasok na sa reinforced room na parang bunker siya,” Rayver said.

[Along with the bombs were the sirens. In one minute, we were supposed to enter the reinforced room that was like a bunker.]

According to Julie Anne, the bomb shelter was located on the second floor of their building. 

They had a total of three trips from their rooms to the bunker, and the whole time, they were clueless about what was going on, relying only on their fans' messages on social media.

“Sabi ko, ‘Bakit? Anong nangyayari? Totoo ba ‘tong nangyayari na to?’ Tapos ‘yun nga po, parang naririnig na namin ‘yung mga [rockets],” Julie Anne said.

[I was like, why? What's going on? Is this for real? And then we heard what sounded like rockets.]

Rayver admitted to feeling panicked on their 3rd trip, when they heard the loudest bang.

“Medyo gumalaw po ‘yung mga ilaw,” he said. “Medyo malapit po ‘yung pagsabog na narinig eh.”

[The lights moved, it sounded very near to us.]

Among the things he feared the most was the possibility of the forces infiltrating the border. "Alam ko po, nasa central kami pero may chance kasi na kung iisipin mo rin, ‘What if umabot na sila hanggang dun?’” Rayver said.

When asked if he thought about proposing to his girlfriend during those harrowing moments, Rayver said, "for me, mind body and soul, kasal na ko sa kanya."

Meanwhile, Julie Anne said they were praying the whole time.

“Sobrang ironic nga eh kasi nasa Holy Land kami and then at the same time parang this is all happening. Parang na-realize namin na grabe. ‘Di namin ma-explain ‘yung feeling pero ito na talaga ‘yung time na talagang kailangan nating, alam mo ‘yun, na magdasal and really have faith,” she said.

[It was so ironic to be experiencing all that in the Holy Land. We realized — we couldn't explain the feeling but we realized how important it was to start praying and really have faith.]

On October 8, they received word from the Sparkle team, assuring them they were safe and would soon leave for Manila.

The Palestinian group Hamas launched the attack on Saturday, firing rockets from Gaza and sending gunmen into Israeli towns. Hundreds have been killed as Israeli troops fought against the militants.

Three Filipinos have been confirmed dead from the fighting. — Carby Basina/LA, GMA Integrated News