Nova festival survivor dies two years after girlfriend shot dead as he shielded her
It was supposed to be a day of pure joy, with hours spent dancing with the love of his life.
But when Hamas terrorists attacked Nova festival on 7 October 2023, Roei Shalev’s life was tragically changed forever.
The 29-year-old was dancing the night away with his partner, Mapal Adam, and their best 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 gunmen behind her, so the trio exited their vehicle and ran to nearby trees to hide.
“Bullets whizzed past us, grenades exploded nearby, and terror engulfed us from all directions,” Roei said.
They dived under two abandoned cars – Roei and Mapal under one, Hilly under the other.
But 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 died beneath him while he was shot in the back. Hilly, 26, was also killed instantly.
Roei was shot in the back twice. Pic: Instagram/@roeishalev
What followed were “agonising” hours during which Roei lay still, covered in his and his girlfriend’s blood, and played dead.
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.
“That day was the darkest I’ve ever known,” he later said.
The terror continued
A week after his girlfriend and best friend were killed, Roei’s mother Raffaela took her own life because she “couldn’t contain the pain and losses of October 7”, according to her son.
“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.”
Roei said therapy and the unwavering support of others gave him the strength to share his story publicly.
“I opened up on social media, laying bare the rawest details of my trauma. The response was overwhelming,” Roei 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 that he had to “honour the memory of the three extraordinary girls who were taken from us too soon”.
Roei Shalev and Mapal Adam. Pic: Instagram/@roeishalev
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.
‘Longing for you is only getting bigger’
On the anniversary of his girlfriend’s death, 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 die in agony and for you to survive it.”
A woman leans on a picture of Mapal Adam, at the site of the Nova music festival. File pic: AP
On Friday night, three days after the anniversary of the tragic events, 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. Police have opened an investigation, according to Israeli media.
His friends describe Roei as a warm and devoted member of the Nova community who “gave strength to everyone else while quietly carrying immense pain”, The Times of Israel reports.
Roei’s family confirmed his death in a statement and asked for their privacy to be respected.
Roei Shalev was found dead on Friday. Pic: Instagram/@novaexhibitions
The Nova Tribe Community organisation, which represents survivors and families of the victims of the October 7 attack on the music festival, called his death “heartbreaking” and “deeply saddening” in a tribute.
“Roei was a pillar of strength within the community, and his death is an immeasurable loss for us,” the organisation said.
The statement continued: “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.”
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SafeHeart, a non-profit organisation providing psychological support for October 7 survivors and their families, said in a statement: “Our hearts are broken alongside Roei’s family, friends, and the entire survivor community.
“This terrible tragedy is a painful reminder that for many survivors, the trauma of October 7 has not ended. It continues to live within them, day by day, moment by moment. The pain does not simply fade with time; in many cases, it grows stronger.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.
Alternatively, you can call Mind’s support line on 0300 102 1234, or NHS on 111.
A woman brought in for cremation at a Thai temple was found alive in her coffin.
The 65-year-old had been taken to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, after she appeared to stop breathing two days earlier.
Her family had travelled hundreds of miles with her body in the coffin and were preparing for her to be cremated.
However, moments before the service began a shocked temple manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said he heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.
Ambulance workers lift the woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said.
“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”
The cremation was due to be live-streamed by the temple.
Thairath, the nation’s best-selling newspaper, named the woman in question as Chonthirat Sakulkoo, and said she was brought in by her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo.
The brother said she had been bedridden for about two years before her health deteriorated further and she became unresponsive, appearing to have stopped breathing, according to Mr Soodthoop
The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
So, the brother placed her in a coffin and drove her 300 miles (500km) from their home in Phitsanulok province, in the north of the country, to the capital, Bangkok.
The Bangkok Post reported that the woman’s brother had been told by local officials that his sister had died.
The woman had wished to donate her organs to a hospital in the Thai capital, but her brother was turned away as he did not have the relevant paperwork.
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Instead, he went to the temple, which offers a free cremation service.
After the woman was discovered alive she was assessed and sent to Bang Yai Hospital, Thairath reported, where she was treated for hypoglycemia, before being released back to her brother.
The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
Asked how he felt to learn that his sister is still alive, Mr Sakulkoo said he was indifferent, according to the newspaper.
Mr Soodthoop, said the temple would cover her medical expenses.
Flights have been cancelled over ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi, a long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia, erupted for the first time in recorded history.
Plumes from the volcano pushed across the Red Sea through Oman and Yemen into India on Monday evening, leading airlines Air India and Akasa Air to cancel some flights.
Air India cancelled 11 flights, and Akasa scrapped flights to destinations such as Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi, while carrier IndiGo said on social media that it was monitoring the situation “in coordination with international aviation bodies”.
The India Meteorological Department said that ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi, northern Ethiopia, are moving towards China, and are expected to clear Indian skies by 7.30pm (2pm in the UK).
It comes after the Ethiopian volcano erupted for the first time in recorded history on Sunday morning, leaving the neighbouring village of Afdera covered in dust.
No eruptions were ever recorded at Hayli Gubbi until Sunday. Pic: Afar Government/AP
Pic: Afar Government/AP
The eruption sent ash plumes up to 8.7 miles (14km) high, according to the Reuters news agency.
Mohammed Seid, a local administrator, told the Associated Press at the time that there were no casualties but that it could cause issues for livestock herders.
“While no human lives and livestock have been lost so far, many villages have been covered in ash and as a result their animals have little to eat,” he added.
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Ahmed Abdela, a local resident, also told the news agency that “it felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash”.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to hold talks over the Ukraine peace plan.
US and Ukrainian officials have held discussions in Geneva about a controversial 28-point proposal drawn up by America and Russia, which has since been countered by an amended deal drawn up by Kyiv’s European allies.
The White House said there were still a “couple of points of disagreement” as of Monday night, but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there was a “sense of urgency” to strike an agreement.
“The president wants to see this deal come together, and to see this war end,” she added.
Mr Zelenskyy echoed that message, saying “there is still work for all of us to do to finalise the document”.
“We must do everything with dignity,” he said in his nightly video address, adding: “The sensitive issues, the most delicate points, I will discuss with President Trump.”
Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House. Pic: AP
It comes after Mr Trump, who had accused Ukraine of not being grateful enough for US military support while the Geneva talks were under way, suggested the process could be moving in the right direction.
He had earlier given Kyiv until Thursday to agree to the plan, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the deadline, saying officials could keep negotiating.
Moscow, however, has already signalled its opposition to the European version of the peace plan.
It would halt fighting at present front lines, leaving discussions of territory for later, and also include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point peace plan in full…
…and Europe’s 28-point counterproposal
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Russian drones devastate Kharkiv
The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, had begun with Mr Rubio denying the original plan was written by Russia.
It appeared to include a number of longstanding Kremlin demands that have proved impossible for Kyiv, including sacrificing territory Russian forces have not even seized since the war began.
Ms Leavitt has also insisted the US is not favouring the Russians.
Ukrainian troops fire near the frontline town of Pokrovsk. Pic: Reuters
Starmer to lead talks of Ukraine’s allies
Ukraine’s allies in the so-called “coalition of the willing” will hold a virtual meeting today, chaired by Sir Keir Starmer.
The British prime minister said the alliance was focused on achieving a “just and lasting peace”.
It “matters for all of us, because the conflict in Ukraine has had a direct impact here in the UK”, he added.
Russia and Ukraine report overnight attacks
The talks will begin hours after the governor of Russia’s Rostov region reported three people had been killed and 10 more injured in a Ukrainian attack overnight.
The Russian defence ministry said 249 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russian regions in total.
Meanwhile, Russian drone strikes in Kyiv left at least two dead and triggered fires on residential buildings – forcing evacuations, and leaving several people injured.
Drone strikes rocked Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday. Pic: Ukrainian emergency services/Telegram
The war was also a topic of discussion in a call between Mr Trump and China’s Xi Jinping on Monday.
Mr Xi urged “all parties” in the conflict to “reduce differences”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
He reiterated that China supported all efforts conducive to peace.
China has remained a consistent ally of Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine, and is the top buyer of Russian oil, along with India.
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