A SURVIVOR of the nova music festival massacre has been found dead two years after Hamas gunmen slaughtered his girlfriend and best friend.
He was found dead inside a burning car on a highway exit near Netanya. Israel Police said an investigation has been opened into the circumstances of his death.
Shortly before his death, Shalev posted a message on social media saying he “couldn’t go on” and asking for forgiveness. Concerned friends and members of the Nova community launched a search after he failed to respond to calls.
CCTV showed him at a gas station filling a canister with fuel. His car was found burning, and the firefighters subsequently found his body in the vehicle. He was declared dead immediately.
The Shalev family announces his death in a statement, asking “to refrain from contact.” The statement further says details of the funeral “will be provided separately.”
Roei Shalev’s life was ripped apart on 7 October 2023 when Hamas terrorists stormed the Nova music festival, slaughtering hundreds in cold blood.
What should have been a day of pure joy, dancing with the love of his life, turned into unimaginable horror.
Roei, 29, had been partying the night away with his girlfriend, 26-year-old Mapal Adam, and their best friend, 26-year-old Hilly Solomon, when the sound of music was drowned out by rocket fire.
The trio jumped into a car to flee the festival grounds – but their escape turned into a nightmare when they spotted a bloodied young woman staggering into the road.
She warned them Hamas gunmen were right behind her. Terrified, they ditched the car and sprinted towards a cluster of trees to hide.
“Bullets whizzed past us, grenades exploded nearby, and terror engulfed us from all directions,” Roei said.
They scrambled under two abandoned cars – Roei and Mapal under one, Hilly under the other. But the killers caught up.
The terrorists opened fire at point-blank range, riddling the vehicles with bullets.
Roei desperately tried to shield Mapal from the gunfire. She died beneath him. Hilly was killed instantly. Roei was shot in the back.
He lay motionless for hours, playing dead as gunmen prowled around. At one point, a second group approached and shot him again in the back — but he still didn’t move.
After seven agonising hours, Israeli soldiers found Roei alive.
“That day was the darkest I’ve ever known,” he said later.
The nightmare didn’t end there. Just a week after the massacre, Roei’s mother, Raffaela, took her own life.
She “couldn’t contain the pain and losses of October 7”, Roei said.
“In just one week, I lost three of the most important women to me in the world,” he revealed.
“In the months that followed, I struggled to cope. Flashbacks and anxiety consumed me, and sleep became a distant memory.”
Therapy and the support of others gave him the strength to speak out.
“I opened up on social media, laying bare the rawest details of my trauma. The response was overwhelming,” he wrote on a fundraising page for Nova festival survivors and their families last year.
“Messages poured in from people who found solace and inspiration in my journey. Their words gave me purpose, a reason to keep fighting.”
He said he was “uncertain of what the future holds”, but knew he had to “honour the memory of the three extraordinary girls who were taken from us too soon”.
In the two years since, Roei renamed the bakery he had shared with Mapal to “Mapal Cafe” in tribute to his “one and only love”. He organised events to remember both her and Hilly.
“Amidst the pain and sorrow, I hold onto one truth: we will dance again,” he wrote last year.
But behind the public strength, his pain never faded.
On the anniversary of the massacre, Roei posted a heartbreaking message 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.”
He thanked his girlfriend for “moments I won’t forget, pure love and the best relationship I could ask for”.
Addressing both her and Hilly, he wrote: “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.”
Three days after the anniversary, Roei posted a chilling note on Instagram: “I 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.”
Family and friends launched a desperate search. Hours later, they found his body inside a burning car near Poleg Beach in Netanya, Israel.
Police have launched an investigation, Israeli media reports.
Friends described Roei as a warm, devoted figure in the Nova community who “gave strength to everyone else while quietly carrying immense pain”, according to The Times of Israel.
His family confirmed his death and asked for privacy.
The Nova Tribe Community, which represents survivors and victims’ families, called his death “heartbreaking” and “deeply saddening”.
“Roei was a pillar of strength within the community, and his death is an immeasurable loss for us,” the organisation said.
The statement added: “Sadly, many members of the Nova community are still experiencing traumatic moments daily since October 7.
“We ask everyone to show constant awareness and emotional sensitivity to the mental state of those affected by the October 7 events and to all survivors and bereaved families.”
