An Israeli survivor of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack has reportedly died by suicide at the grave of his girlfriend, who was murdered by the militant group during the same assault. Bar Asraf, 30, was found with a gunshot wound to the chest at the cemetery in Elkana on Saturday evening, according to Israeli news site JFeed. Emergency medical teams were called to the scene, but Asraf was pronounced dead.
Asraf was a survivor of the Nova Festival massacre, where his girlfriend, Liron Barda, 26, was killed. Barda was a bartender at the festival and, according to reports, refused to leave when Hamas militants attacked. Her father told Israel Hayom that Barda stayed behind to care for the wounded.
Footage from the event showed Barda tending to injured partygoers. "I spoke to her that morning, I asked her to leave the area — she refused, she said there were wounded people and she was staying," her father, Avi, said. "This was Liron — I would have been surprised if she agreed to flee."
According to French-Jewish activist Jérémy Benhaïm, who shared the news on X, Asraf had remained close to Barda's family and frequently visited her parents, honoring her memory. He reportedly described being consumed by grief following Barda's death.
This incident follows reports of other Oct. 7 survivors dying by suicide. In April 2024, it was reported that nearly 50 Nova Festival survivors had died by suicide in the six months after the massacre. In October 2025, Roei Shalev, 28, another survivor, reportedly died by suicide by setting himself on fire in a car.
Shalev had witnessed his girlfriend's execution by Hamas at the Oct. 7 attack. He reportedly left a final message stating, "I'm truly sorry. I can't bear this pain any longer."
For those struggling with suicidal thoughts or experiencing a mental health crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988. In immediate danger, call 911.