An Israeli man whose girlfriend and best friend were murdered in front of him at the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 has killed himself days after the second anniversary of the terrorist atrocities.
Roei Shalev, who was shot during the Nova attack and survived, was found dead in his burned car north of Tel Aviv on Friday night. Hours before his death, Shalev, 30, had posted a message on social media saying he felt he could not go on.
“Please don’t be angry with me, please,” he wrote. “No one will ever understand me, and that’s OK because you can’t understand. I just want this suffering to end. I’m alive, but inside everything is dead.”
More than 370 revellers were killed when Hamas-led Palestinian militants crossed from Gaza into Israel in the early hours of 7 October 2023 and attacked the music festival and several nearby communities.
Shalev’s girlfriend, Mapal Adam, and his best friend, Hili Solomon, were murdered before his eyes as the trio tried to hide under a car. Shalev was shot trying to save his girlfriend, according to Adam’s sister, Maayan.
“Roei lay next to the dead love of his life for about two hours until the army arrived and rescued him,” Maayan told Ynet last year. “She was hit by a bullet that penetrated her ribs and went into her heart – I say her heart was so big that it was impossible to miss it.”
Shalev’s mother killed herself two week after the atrocities. According to Israeli media reports, she had been very close to Adam and was devastated by her death.
Maayan Adam posted a picture of her sister and Shalev on Saturday. Its caption read: “Roei was murdered on 7 October and died yesterday. I have no words and it will take time to find them. Hope these two kids are hugging and smiling right now, hearts pressed together again.”
The Nova Tribe Community Foundation, which supports survivors of the attack and their families, described Shalev as “a backbone of the community” and urged that he be remembered for his bravery and kindness.
“We ask to remember him for his beautiful moments, his courageous support of the community, his work as captain of the Nova Tribe basketball team and his constant devotion to helping his friends, sons and daughters of the Tribe during their most difficult and challenging time,” it said in a statement.
Several secular opposition politicians – many of whom, unlike most ruling coalition members, remain active on social media during the Jewish sabbath – reacted with dismay to the news on Saturday and called for greater mental health support for survivors of the 7 October attacks.
Yair Golan, the head of the leftwing Democrats party, wrote: “Roei could not withstand the pain, but others are still here fighting, coping, trying to live. We must give them all the help we can – so they don’t feel alone.”
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
