One of the Israelis who survived the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, has committed suic!de by setting himself ablaze.
Before taking his life, he posted a note on his Instagram account, saying he “can’t go on anymore”.
Before the Hamas attack, life was good for Roei Shalev. The 29-year-old had just moved in with the “love of his life” a few days before and had been celebrating with her at the Supernova music festival, a rave in Israel’s Negev desert.
Sadly, his joy turned to terror when Hamas gunmen stormed the event near Re’im in the early hours of October 7, 2023.
Roei and his girlfriend Mapal Adam were dancing with their friend Hilly Solomon when rocket fire suddenly drowned out the music.
Roei, Mapal and Hilly frantically tried to escape by car, driving away from the festival grounds until they encountered a young woman stumbling into the road, covered in blood.
She warned them that there were Hamas attackers behind her, so the trio exited their vehicle and ran to nearby trees to hide.
The gunmen caught up with them, shooting the three festivalgoers as they were pinned under the cars.
Roei tried to shield 26-year-old Mapal from the bullets, but she di£d beneath him while he was shot in the back. Hilly, 26, was also k!lled instantly.
Even when a second group of gunmen approached and shot at him a second time, hitting him in the back yet again, he did not move.
Seven hours later, the Israeli army found Roei alive.
Mapal’s family later said it brought them comfort to know she “had di£d in his arms”.
A week after his girlfriend and best friend were k!lled, Roei said his mother Raffaela took her own life because she “couldn’t contain the pain and losses of October 7”, the day on which attacks by Hamas on Israel resulted in a total of over 1,200 people k!lled and 251 taken hostage.
“In just one week, I lost three of the most important women to me in the world,” Roei said.
“In the months that followed, I struggled to cope. Flashbacks and anxiety consumed me, and sleep became a distant memory.”
In the two years that followed these tragic events, Roei renamed the family bakery he had been running with his girlfriend to “Mapal Cafe”, in tribute to his “one and only love” and organised events to commemorate Mapal and Hilly.
“Amidst the pain and sorrow, I hold onto one truth: we will dance again,” he said in his fundraising post a year ago.
On the second anniversary of his girlfriend’s de@th, Roei wrote on Instagram: “Two years have passed since the most terrible day of my life… and of a whole country.
“The longing for you is only getting bigger, the pain does not pass with time. It is always there, everywhere, all the time. I’m full of pain this year, even more than last year.”
In the post, Roei thanked his girlfriend for “moments I won’t forget, pure love and the best relationship I could ask for”.
He also addressed both her and Hilly, saying: “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 di£ in agony and for you to survive it.”
On Friday night, three days after that anniversary, Roei posted a note on his Instagram account, saying he “can’t go on anymore”.
“I’ve never felt such deep and burning pain and suffering in my life. It’s eating me up inside,” Roei wrote.
His note raised concern among his family and friends, and a frantic search was launched.
The search ended a few hours later in the tragic discovery of Roei’s body inside a burning car near Poleg Beach in Netanya, Israel.
Upon hearing news of his de@th, Mapal’s sister wrote in a post shared on Instagram: “I have no words, and it will take time to find them. I hope these two children are embraced and smiling now, hearts pressed together again.”
Roei’s family confirmed his de@th in a statement and asked for their privacy to be respected.
Police have opened an investigation, according to Israeli media.
