Love, loss & the cost of survival: The tragic end of Roei Shalev

Two years after surviving the October 7 Nova music festival massacre, Israeli survivor Roei Shalev ended his life.

Transcript

00:00This photo was taken at the NOVA Music Festival on October 7, 2023.

00:07The man you see smiling here is Rui Shalev, celebrating life with his girlfriend Mipal

00:11Adam. But that day, October 7, 2023, turned into one of the darkest in Israel's history.

00:17The festival was ambushed by Hamas militants. Hundreds were killed.

00:21Mipal was shot dead in front of Rui, who narrowly survived.

00:24Nearly two years later, Rui was found dead in a burning car near Tel Aviv on 10 October

00:292025. Israeli reports describe it as an apparent suicide.

00:33In the weeks before, he posted anguished messages online saying he couldn't continue bearing

00:37the pain caused by the loss of Mipal. Rui, 13, not only witnessed Mipal's brutal murder

00:42but also lost his best friend, Hilly Solomon, in the same attack. He was reportedly shot

00:47while trying to protect Mipal as he shielded her, then played dead under a car for hours

00:51while gunmen passed by. Rui had become a symbol of survival, often speaking about the horrors

00:56he witnessed and the toll it took on his generation. But behind the strength he showed in public,

01:01his trauma never healed. This tragedy unfolds just as Hamas has agreed to release all remaining

01:06Israeli hostages under a ceasefire deal after two years of captivity. This agreement effectively

01:11ended a two-year war that began on October 7, 2023. Despite the ceasefire, the situation

01:16remains fragile. Tensions persist and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues with ongoing efforts

01:23to provide aid and support reconstruction.