Tragedy After Tragedy: Nova Festival Survivor Takes Own Life Two Years After Hamas Attack

In a heartbreaking interview from 2024, Roei Shalev described how he and his girlfriend Mapal Adam exchanged "I love you" before closing their eyes to play dead during the Hamas attack.

An Israeli survivor of the devastating October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on a music festival has died by suicide, just days after the second anniversary of the tragic event.

Roei Shalev, aged 28, had been grieving the loss of his 25-year-old girlfriend Mapal Adam and his friend Hili Solomon, both victims of the attack two years ago.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Shalev was discovered deceased inside a burning vehicle at a highway exit near Netanya on Friday. CCTV footage reportedly showed him at a gas station filling a fuel container shortly before authorities found his body.

Prior to his death, Shalev shared a heartbreaking final message on Instagram: "I'm truly sorry. I can't bear this pain any longer. I'm burning inside, and I can't contain it anymore. Never in my life have I felt such pain and suffering - deep, burning, eating me from within. I just want this suffering to end. I'm alive - but inside, I'm already dead."

The Times of Israel reported that Shalev and Adam were attending the Nova festival near Re'im when the attack occurred. The couple sought shelter under a truck and pretended to be dead for hours amid the surrounding chaos. Adam was fatally shot at close range, while Shalev sustained two gunshot wounds but survived.

During a YouTube interview in 2024, Shalev recounted the harrowing experience: "They disappeared and I opened my eyes - Mapal is next to me in a pool of blood. She got bullet in her heart."

Tragically, The Jerusalem Post also reported that Shalev's mother died by suicide in similar circumstances days after the attack, setting her car on fire.

The Nova Tribe Community organization, which represents survivors and families of the festival victims, expressed profound grief over Shalev's death. "Roei was the backbone of the community and his death is inconceivable news for us," the group stated on Facebook. "The Nova Tribe Community Foundation bows its head with a broken heart and deep sorrow, over the untimely death of its Roei, a community member who died under tragic circumstances."

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths in southern Israel and the taking of 250 hostages. Since then, Israel's military response in Gaza has led to over 67,200 Palestinian fatalities, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.