Statue of Jesus desecrated in Lebanon: Netanyahu wants “severe measures” against the soldier who committed the gesture

Netanyahu slammed his fist on the table. Israel’s prime minister said on Monday that “severe measures” would be taken against a soldier who was filmed hitting a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer.

The sequence, the authenticity of which was confirmed by the Israeli army, has been widely relayed on social networks since Sunday. It shows an Israeli soldier hitting the head of a statue of Jesus crucified, which had fallen from its cross.

“I was shocked and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier (the Israeli army, editor’s note) had damaged a Catholic religious symbol in southern Lebanon,” Mr. Netanyahu wrote on X. “I condemn this act in the strongest terms. Military authorities are conducting a criminal investigation and will take severe disciplinary action against the perpetrator,” he added.

The army had earlier indicated that the soldier was operating in southern Lebanon and announced the opening of an investigation. Israel took control of several sectors of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, after the pro-Iranian movement’s attack on Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the Israeli-American offensive in Iran.

“Appropriate measures will be taken against those involved, in accordance with the conclusions of the investigation,” said the army, ensuring that the matter was treated with “the greatest severity”. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also condemned a “shameful and degrading” act, apologizing on X “to all Christians whose feelings were hurt”.

The statue is located in the Maronite village of Debel, near the border with Israel, the municipality told AFP, although it could not say whether it had been damaged. The area is inaccessible to the press.

The Israeli army assured “to help the community to put the statue back in place”, adding that it had “no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols”.

“Profound indignation”

In a statement published by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries (bishops) of the Holy Land expressed “its deep indignation and unreservedly condemns the desecration of a representation of Jesus crucified by an Israeli soldier”.

“This act constitutes a serious offense to the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by (Israeli) soldiers in southern Lebanon,” the text adds.

Verifications carried out using detection tools suggest that the image was probably not generated by artificial intelligence, as many Internet users have claimed. Other photos available online of the statue and its surroundings would place it around Debel.

At the same time, several manipulated images purporting to represent the same scene circulated on social networks and were generated or altered by artificial intelligence.

In March, Mr. Netanyahu denied wanting to hurt anyone after sparking an avalanche of criticism by declaring that Jesus was no match for Genghis Khan, in an attempt to justify the regional war launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel by attacking Iran. “I did not denigrate Jesus Christ,” he declared at the time.