Nearly three years after losing his girlfriend in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, a 30-year-old man died by suicide beside her grave. Bar Asraf was found with a gunshot wound to the chest at the cemetery in Elkana in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, where his late girlfriend, Liron Barda, is buried. Emergency responders rushed to the scene but were unable to save him.
Barda was among those killed during the Hamas attack on the Nova Music Festival, where she had been working as a bar manager. According to Israeli media reports, Asraf quietly left a family wedding before relatives began searching for him. His sister later found him beside Barda's grave.
Speaking to Israeli outlet Walla, his sister Lehi recalled the devastating moment.
"We were at my (other) brother's wedding, and he apparently started to feel lonely...he left. I thought he went to be alone and think like he usually does.
"An hour, two hours passed, my older sister said, 'Come on, let's go look for him. First in the most logical places, and then we said at Liron's grave. He liked to talk there and be with her.'"
She said she initially thought her brother was resting beside the grave and called out to him to get up. Moments later, she realised he was covered in blood and noticed a gun lying next to him. Overcome with shock, she screamed and immediately knew he was gone. She said her brother had died in the place where he most wanted to be -- beside the woman he had loved.
Friends and relatives said Asraf had struggled to cope with Barda's death since the attack. Barda had chosen to remain at the Nova festival grounds to help injured people instead of fleeing after Hamas attackers launched their assault.
Her father, Avi, previously told Israel Hayom that he had spoken to Barda on the morning of the attack and asked her to leave the festival site. However, she refused, telling him she could not abandon the wounded and intended to stay to help them. He said her decision reflected the kind of person she was, adding that he would have been surprised if she had chosen to flee.
Asraf's mother, Bracha, said her son's life changed completely after losing the woman she described as his soulmate. Speaking to Walla, she recalled the anguish of the three days when Barda's family did not know her fate after the Nova festival attack. She said Asraf stayed by her side throughout that period and spent much of his time with Barda's family after her death.
According to Bracha, he remained close to them in the years that followed, regularly bringing flowers to Barda's mother and even getting a tattoo in her memory. She also said that shortly before his death, Asraf confided that he still deeply missed Barda and felt no one could replace or comfort him.
His funeral was held on Sunday at the Nahal Rabbah Cemetery.
Nearly three years after the attack, Asraf's death has become another stark reminder of the invisible psychological wounds still affecting those touched by the tragedy. Mental health advocates have repeatedly warned that many survivors continue to battle severe trauma long after the attack.
Israeli media reported in April 2024 that dozens of Nova festival survivors had died by suicide in the months following the massacre.
Among the cases was Roei Shalev, 28, who died after setting himself on fire in October last year. Shalev had witnessed the killings of his girlfriend, Mapal Adam, and his close friend, Hili Solomon, during the Nova festival attack. After being shot in the back, he survived by pretending to be dead for hours.
Before his death, Shalev left a final message that read: "I'm truly sorry. I can't bear this pain any longer."
Another tragic case was that of Yelena Giler, whose son, Slava, was killed at the Nova festival. After battling severe psychological trauma for two years, she died by suicide in October 2025.
