A tank rolled beneath an underpass in Benghazi, crushing the crash barriers with ease as it headed towards a residential block protected by a small group of ill-equipped rebel fighters.
The mobile phone video is grainy, but one can still make out the familiar chants of “Allah u akbar” and hear the distant moan of a young man whose brother has just been hit by indiscriminate tank fire.
“That is not far from my house.... My son shot that video when the fighting had just started,” said Hasnaa Ahmed Ali.
The 44-year-old mother re-counts how her husband and two boys, aged 20 and 16, went out to fight when the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime started earlier this year.
For weeks, Ms Ali, her 15-year-old daughter and five-year-old son did not leave the house as the battle for Benghazi raged outside. They lived in fear that their home would be machine-gunned or bombed, and even when food supplies were running low they stayed put.
The only thing that kept her spirit alive was the knowledge that this uprising would rid Libya of Col Gaddafi and “we will be free”.
Sitting on a bench against a serene backdrop of laughter from an adjacent swimming pool, she looks down with affection at her son, Naji, in a wheelchair, concentrating on positioning his fingers in a V to symbolise the rebels’ victory.
Ms Ali’s is one of five families that have been in Malta since July as part of the government’s humanitarian aid mission to provide treatment for their children at Mater Dei Hospital. A government spokesman confirmed Malta was prepared to provide similar treatment to more Libyans in the coming months.
The children, aged six months to five, were unable to receive specialised treatment in Libya and the families are very grateful for the help they are receiving – especially from hospital staff, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Health Ministry – and the warm welcome.
All the children suffer from congenital disorders, with the exception of Naji who requires a special cast for his left leg, which is a foot shorter following a bone infection – osteomylitis.
Ms Ali pulls down her son’s shorts, revealing deep scars running down his thigh and snaking behind his knee. Squeezing his thigh that is as pliable as a sponge, she explains how the infection completely corroded the bone.
The infection inflicted Naji when he was seven months old. His leg started swelling and he suffered a high fever that threw him into a coma for eight days.
Wiping the kohl-stained tears, Ms Ali recounts how she spent those eight days sleeping in the garden of the hospital grounds, waiting for the dreaded news that her son had died. He survived, but the treatment has been poor and the hospital in Benghazi was not equipped to help improve his quality in life.
In Malta, his leg will be lengthened and he will have a tailor-made cast that will equalise the distance with his normal leg and help him walk unaided.
“I hope to return home soon once Naji’s treatment is complete. I miss my family a lot. I’m looking forward to living in a free Libya,” she said.
This is a sentiment shared by Wisam Faraj Hamed, 35, who is in Malta with his wife Assya Younis, waiting for their six-month-old son, Mohammed, to undergo an operation for a congenital disorder of the urinary system.
“Overthrowing Gaddafi is like seeing the sun rising over Libya. For us there is no longer fear,” Mr Hamad said.
A businessman by profession, Mr Hamad spoke about the dread they lived with under Col Gaddafi where whoever spoke out against the regime risked facing death. His 21-year-old brother was close to being killed after being captured by loyalists when he was fighting with the rebels.
He shows a mobile phone video of his brother who was forced to speak in honour of Col Gaddafi on TV, while he was being tortured. He was later thrown into the Abu Salim prison and freed when Tripoli was liberated.
“My brother was recounting how loyalists would shoot prisoners and leave them to bleed to death as they looked on – it was psychological torture,” Mr Hamad said, adding he was looking forward to returning to a free Libya, despite the current shortcomings.
However, the family have to wait for their son to undergo an operation in the UK before they head back home. Mohammed’s medical treatment involves coordination with a British hospital. They are anxious to have this done as soon as possible to be reunited with their families.
In the meantime, Ms Ali and Mr Hamad spend the day mingling with the other Libyan families, making friends with the people in their community and watching TV, eager to see if Col Gaddafi has been caught or not.
“Gaddafi should be tried in Libya – it will be very humiliating for him, plus, the satisfaction of the people who overthrew him will be immeasurable,” Mr Hamad said.