Members of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) and Lebanese soldiers, on Aug. 4, 2026, in front of the port of Beirut, for the 6th commemoration of the deadly explosion in the Lebanese capital. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — The owner of the "Sadaka" pastry shop, Jihad Assaad Sadaka, known as "Abu Ali," was found dead Thursday morning, having been shot in the chest in his office at the shop’s Bir al-Abed branch in Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to local media.
An investigation is underway to determine whether his death was a homicide or suicide. Media reports, which L’Orient-Le Jour could not independently verify, suggested that Sadaka had been facing financial difficulties as a result of the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, the Internal Security Forces did not immediately respond. The municipality of Haret Hreik and a local official also said they had no further information about the incident.
According to An-Nahar and the news website Lebanon Debate, Sadaka arrived at his workplace, greeted his employees and later entered his office. One of his employees subsequently found him dead, lying in a pool of blood after suffering a gunshot wound to the chest. A pistol was reportedly found near his body.
Sadaka had been elected a week earlier to the board of directors of the Association of Industrialists of Beirut’s southern suburbs, where he served as treasurer.
“We are waiting for the investigation to learn more about what happened. Jihad Sadaka had a reputation as an honest man who was appreciated by everyone. We have no information about his financial situation,” the association’s media representative, Mohammad al-Baker Tarshishi, told L’Orient-Le Jour.
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