War in the Middle East: Israeli army announces replacing vandalized statue of Jesus Christ by one of its soldiers in southern Lebanon.

The photo of an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in the village of Debel, southern Lebanon, has been widely shared on social media. The soldier who vandalized the statue and the one who photographed it have been condemned.

The Israeli army announced on Tuesday, April 21, that they had replaced the statue of Jesus Christ, vandalized by an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon, “in full coordination with the local community of Debel.”

“The IDF expresses deep regret about this incident and is taking all necessary measures to ensure that such a situation does not occur again in the future,” wrote the Israeli army on X.

A photo widely shared at the beginning of the week on social media showed a soldier striking the head of a statue of the crucified Jesus, fallen from his cross, in the Maronite village of Debel, near the border with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had condemned this act on Monday “in the strongest terms” and stated that “military authorities will take severe disciplinary action.”

The soldier sentenced to one month in prison

On Tuesday, the Israeli army announced a sentence of one month in prison for two of its soldiers who vandalized the statue. “The soldier who damaged the Christian symbol and the one who photographed the act will no longer participate in combat operations and will serve 30 days of military detention,” said a military statement.

The Israeli army indicated that “the investigation concluded that the soldiers’ behavior was completely contrary to the orders and values of the IDF,” adding that “its operations in Lebanon are directed solely against the terrorist organization Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, not against Lebanese civilians.”

Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the regional war triggered by the American-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 by firing rockets at Israel on March 2. Since then, Israel has taken control of a strip of Lebanese territory about ten kilometers deep along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The new Israeli airstrikes campaign has resulted in more than 2,300 deaths and one million displaced persons in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. A ceasefire came into effect on Friday. On the Israeli side, the war with Hezbollah has caused three civilian deaths, in addition to 15 soldiers killed in southern Lebanon since March 2.