{"id":543275,"date":"2026-04-21T18:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/543275\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:23:08","slug":"two-israeli-soldiers-jailed-over-smashing-of-jesus-statue-in-lebanon-village-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/543275\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Israeli soldiers jailed over smashing of Jesus statue in Lebanon village | Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Israeli soldiers have been removed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days in jail after one used a sledgehammer to smash a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon<\/a> while the other filmed him, the Israel Defense Forces have said.<\/p>\n

An image circulating on social media on Monday showed an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus<\/a> that had fallen from its cross in a Christian village in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, prompting outrage among Christian communities worldwide.<\/p>\n

After determining the authenticity of the photo<\/a>, the Israel Defense Forces launched an investigation. Its findings concluded \u201cthe soldiers\u2019 conduct completely deviated from IDF orders and values\u201d.<\/p>\n

The IDF said it had removed from combat duty both the soldier who damaged the statue and the one who filmed the act, sentencing them to 30 days in military prison.<\/p>\n

This type of punishment is relatively rare in the Israeli military, according to rights groups.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the conflict-monitoring group Action on Armed Violence said it had found Israel had closed down or left unresolved 88% of cases of alleged misconduct in Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n

In a recent case, charges were dropped against soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Gaza detainee.<\/p>\n

The investigation found that six other troops were \u201cpresent at the scene and did not act to stop the incident or report it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remaining troops who stood by have been summoned for clarification discussions that will be held later, after which further command-level measures will be determined,\u201d the IDF said.<\/p>\n

The military added that \u201cprocedures 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military posted a photo on social media of the replacement crucifix, which appeared smaller but more ornate than the original statue smashed by the soldier, and said the sculpture was replaced by troops a short while ago, \u201cin full coordination with the local community\u201d.<\/p>\n

Residents said the statue had stood on a crucifix outside a family home on the edge of Debel, one of the few villages where civilians have remained despite Israel\u2019s ongoing war with Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he was \u201cstunned and saddened\u201d<\/a> by the incident, while the foreign minister, Gideon Saar, issued an apology \u201cto every Christian whose feelings were hurt\u201d.<\/p>\n

The desecration drew condemnation in Lebanon and internationally<\/a>, including from figures linked to the Vatican.<\/p>\n

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Monday voiced \u201cdeep indignation\u201d and \u201cunreserved condemnation\u201d<\/a> for the desecration and destruction of the sculpture. In a statement signed by Pizzaballa, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land called the act a \u201cgrave affront to the Christian faith\u201d and part of \u201cother reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols\u201d.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the recent defacing of the Jesus statue, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said to the Italian broadcaster La7: \u201cI would like to point out to Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> 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 \u2013 not to destroy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, said on X that \u201cswift, severe, & public consequences are needed\u201d. Rightwing commentators in the US were also quick to react, with Matt Gaetz describing the image as \u201chorrific\u201d as he shared it online.<\/p>\n

Christians are estimated to make up around a third of Lebanon\u2019s population of roughly 5.5 million people. Thousands of them were displaced<\/a> from their homes in the south during the war launched by Israel on 2 March, which has killed 2,290 people, including 177 children and 100 healthcare workers, according to Lebanese authorities.<\/p>\n

Reuters contributed to this report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Israeli soldiers have been removed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days in jail after one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-543275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}