{"id":403672,"date":"2026-04-21T16:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/403672\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T16:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:28:09","slug":"israel-jails-two-soldiers-who-damaged-and-photographed-a-jesus-statue-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/403672\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel jails two soldiers who damaged and photographed a Jesus statue in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8rjj4m007n28qg6bor8p68@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The Israeli soldiers who damaged a figure of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon and photographed the incident will be removed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days of military detention, according to the Israeli military.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e00043b6qy2y9jfxt@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Six additional soldiers who witnessed the incident but did nothing to stop it or report it will be summoned for what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called \u201cclarification discussions that will be held later on.\u201d The IDF said other command-level measures could be taken.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e00053b6q3r4pt272@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On Sunday, a photo emerged on social media of an Israeli soldier wielding what appears to be a hammer or axe against the figure of a crucified Jesus Christ in the predominantly Christian town of Debel. The photo seemingly showed the soldier hitting the head of the figure after it had been removed from the cross.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026-04-20t080534z-1681395528-rc2vska0iuob-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel-lebanon-statue.JPG\" alt=\"An Israeli soldier damages the head of a statue of Jesus, in Debel, Lebanon, in this still image obtained from social media released on April 19, 2026.\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1200\" width=\"1066\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e00063b6qqxv0cx5t@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Maroun Nassif, the deputy head of the municipality, told CNN after the incident that it was \u201can attack on our sacred beliefs.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e00073b6qtdbc96bh@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The IDF opened an investigation into the photo, calling the soldiers\u2019 actions \u201cwholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops.\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was \u201cstunned and saddened\u201d by the attack on the religious figure. \u201cI condemn the act in the strongest terms,\u201d he said in a statement on Monday.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e00083b6qxky1wim4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On Tuesday, the IDF said they had worked \u201cin full coordination\u201d with the community of Debel to replace the figure of Jesus Christ. The new figure, appeared to be made of metal on a new cross. \u201cThe IDF expresses deep regret over the incident, and is working to ensure that it does not happen again in the future,\u201d the IDF said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hgb5xilxcaa2nav.jpeg\" alt=\"On Tuesday, the IDF said in a statement, \" a=\"\" short=\"\" while=\"\" ago=\"\" in=\"\" full=\"\" coordination=\"\" with=\"\" the=\"\" local=\"\" community=\"\" of=\"\" debel=\"\" southern=\"\" lebanon=\"\" damaged=\"\" statue=\"\" was=\"\" replaced=\"\" by=\"\" idf=\"\" troops.=\"\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"800\" width=\"1200\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e00093b6qpn9dp8ez@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Wadih El Khazen, a former tourism minister in Lebanon and Maronite Christian leader, called for \u201cinternational action to ensure accountability for all those who commit these crimes.\u201d According to Lebanon\u2019s state-run NNA news, El Khazen said on Monday, \u201cThe historical truth about the war in Lebanon is unforgiving, and it places a great responsibility on us to protect civilians, reject all forms of discrimination and violence, and work toward a lasting and just peace.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmo8s1e0e000a3b6qzt964k4v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Debel is one of 55 Lebanese towns and villages inside a swath of southern Lebanon currently occupied by Israeli forces. It is approximately four miles west of Bint Jbeil, a town which the IDF has surrounded as it tries to root out what it says is a Hezbollah stronghold there.\n    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israeli soldiers who damaged a figure of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon and photographed the incident will&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-403672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}