April 21 (UPI) — Two Israeli soldiers have been removed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days in jail after one shot a photo of the other smashing the face of a downed statue of Jesus in Lebanon, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
Other soldiers who were nearby but didn’t intervene have also been summoned and may face discipline, the military reported.
The image was passed around via social media on Monday. It showed a downed crucifix in the Christian village of Debel.
The photo was originally posted on X by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi.
The Israeli military posted on X Tuesday that it had replaced the statue.
“A short while ago, in full coordination with the local community of Debel in southern Lebanon, the damaged statue was replaced by [Israel Defense Forces] troops. The Northern Command worked to coordinate the replacement of the statue from the moment it received the report of the incident,” the post said.
The military said, “procedures regarding conduct with religious institutions and symbols were reinforced to troops prior to their entry into the relevant areas and will be reinforced again for all forces in the area following the incident.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is also a Baptist minister, said on X that “swift, severe, & public consequences are needed.”
Residents of Debel said the crucifix had stood at a family home on the edge of the village. It is one of the few villages where civilians have stayed despite Israel’s war with Hezbollah, The Guardian reported.
Christians make up about 41% of Lebanon’s population of about 5.5 million.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “stunned and saddened” by the incident. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar apologized “to every Christian whose feelings were hurt.”
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa on Monday called it a “grave affront to the Christian faith” and part of “other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols.”
“I would like to point out to Benjamin Netanyahu that Jesus himself went to Tyre and Sidon, in southern Lebanon. But he did not go there to kill; he went to multiply bread, to heal, to perform miracles — not to destroy,” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia told Italian broadcaster La7, The Guardian reported.
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