October 7 survivor Roi Shalev – whose girlfriend was murdered in front of him by Hamas at the Nova music festival two years ago – has died by suicide.
Mr Shalev, 30, was wounded when the terrorist group opened fire at the festival near Re’im, in southern Israel. His girlfriend, Mapal Adam – the sister of Israeli TV personality Maayan Adam – was one of the more than 360 attendees killed by the Hamas gunmen.
Days after Mr Shalev wrote on social media that he “couldn’t go on anymore” – sparking concern among family and friends and a wide search – Fire and Rescue Service teams found his body in a burnt-out car near Poleg Beach in Netanya.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said early findings indicate Mr Shalev’s death was not suspicious, local media reported.
Friends of Mr Shalev said he had struggled to cope with the trauma and loss of Ms Adam and also his mother, who died by suicide shortly after the October 7 attacks.
“Everyone was worried and afraid he might hurt himself – now we’re all in shock,” one friend told Ynet news.
In an Instagram post last week commemorating the second anniversary of October 7, Mr Shalev described it as “the most terrible day of my life”, according to a translation.
“The longing for you is only getting bigger, the pain does not pass with time,” he continued.
“He is always there, everywhere all the time. I’m full of pain this year even more than last year. I don’t know what to say so I’m venting here a little … Thank you for being in my life, for giving me so much.”
Referring to Ms Adam, he wrote: “I’m sorry my girls … A huge apology that I couldn’t keep you safe on this terrible day, you know I did everything, I did everything to keep you safe my beloved. I preferred to die in agony and for you to survive it.”
In an interview in November 2023, Mr Shalev said: “I hold up the stick with the sunflower as high as I can, feeling like I’m reaching the sky.”
“Then suddenly I think of Mapal – and I start crying, crying my heart out,” he said.
“As I cry harder, I feel like Mapal is reaching out her hand from the heavens.”
Hostages’ release to begin on Monday morning
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have begun returning to a devastated Gaza City, as Hamas warned the next stage in US President Donald Trump’s peace plan would be more difficult than the first.
Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy promised Israeli hostage families their loved ones would be returned to them by Monday. A top Hamas official confirmed to AFP that the release of 48 mostly-Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militants in Gaza would begin on Monday morning.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed, and there are no new developments on this matter,” Osama Hamdan said in an interview.
Following the return of the captives from Gaza, Israel will proceed with the release of about 2000 Palestinian detainees from its prisons, according to the terms of the first stage of the ceasefire deal signed by the two parties under US mediation.
After the prisoner exchange and a partial Israeli withdrawal, the conflict’s US-led mediators will then have to secure a longer-term political solution that will see Hamas hand in its weapons and step aside from governing Gaza.
“The second phase of the Trump plan, as it is clear from the points themselves, contains many complexities and difficulties,” member of Hamas’ political bureau, Hossam Badran, told AFP in an interview in Qatar.
The terrorist group, he said, would not attend the formal signing of the Gaza peace deal in Egypt, where intentional leaders are due to gather on Monday to discuss implementing the first phase of the ceasefire.
Hamas is resisting calls to disarm. An official from the group, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was “out of the question”.
Mr Badran said that, while the group does not want war, “our Palestinian people and the resistance force will undoubtedly confront and use all their capabilities to repel this aggression if this battle is imposed”.
– with AFP
Originally published as Nova music festival survivor Roi Shalev dies by suicide two years after October 7 attacks
