By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Roei Shalev, who survived the Nova festival massacre but witnessed the murder of his girlfriend, Mapal Adam, tragically died by suicide on Friday. His death followed a social media post expressing his inability to cope with the trauma. Emergency services discovered Shalev’s body in a burning vehicle after searches were organized due to concern for his well-being. The Israel Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
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Nova survivor dies by suicide, 2 years after his girlfriend was killed in front of him. The raw, undeniable pain in this story is just overwhelming. We’re talking about Roei, who experienced a level of trauma that’s almost impossible to fathom. He was there, he saw it all, and he tried to protect his girlfriend, Mapal. They had just moved in together, a fresh start brimming with promise, only to have it ripped away in the most brutal way imaginable.
He laid on top of Mapal, shielding her from the gunfire. He was shot in the back as he tried to save her. The details are gut-wrenching. He stayed with her body for two hours, until the army arrived, forced to endure the horror of that moment in its entirety. The quote from his girlfriend’s sister, Maayan, about her heart being “so big that it was impossible to miss it,” it’s absolutely heartbreaking. It’s a testament to the immense love he lost, a love that was extinguished in an instant.
Then, adding to the incomprehensible tragedy, there’s the fact that his mother took her own life just two weeks after the attacks. The weight of that loss, combined with the trauma of October 7th, must have been crushing. Finding out that your own country killed more of your own people than the terrorists is a reality that cannot be processed easily. It is a blow to your very spirit.
Before his death, Shalev wrote a social media post. He shared that he “couldn’t take it anymore,” and asked for forgiveness. It’s a desperate cry for help, a final testament to the pain he was enduring, and a window into the darkness that had consumed him. The specifics of his death, a car fire, underscore the intensity of his suffering. It seems almost like a form of self-punishment, a desire to end his pain in a way that mirrored the agony he had lived through.
This wasn’t just a story of one person’s pain; it was about the senselessness of violence. He was murdered on October 7 and died yesterday. A life cut short because of the actions of others. It’s impossible not to feel a sense of deep, aching sadness. This is a story of the cost of conflict, the devastating impact it has on individuals, and the long-lasting effects of trauma.
The conversation around this tragedy has, as one might expect, become complex. It’s difficult to address this story without acknowledging the political backdrop of the attacks. The questions being asked about the intelligence failures, the choices made by Israeli officials, and the subsequent actions in Gaza add another layer of grief. Blaming the victim, regardless of the context, is something people should think twice about.
The attackers had a specific goal, a terrifyingly simple one. They wanted to provoke a response from Israel, which would result in the deaths of civilians, and ultimately garner support from the international community. The ideology driving these actions is rooted in a belief system that views the killing of “infidels” and Jews as a pathway to paradise. This is what needs to be understood.
The discussion underscores the need for compassion and understanding in the face of such immense tragedy. It reminds us to show respect, even when the political climate is turbulent. Everyone can understand the human cost of such violence.
The story is a reminder of the long shadow cast by grief. It’s a testament to the enduring power of love and loss, and the devastating consequences of senseless violence. It’s a reminder that the effects of such events can linger for years, and that the path to healing is often long, difficult, and, sadly, sometimes impossible. The pain of losing someone you love, especially in such horrific circumstances, can be an unbearable burden. The grief he experienced, compounded by his mother’s loss and the psychological impact of the attack, was simply too much to bear.