The Israeli Army is investigating a photograph in which one of its soldiers appears destroying the figure of Jesus Christ with a hammer in a Christian village in southern Lebanon.
“If it turns out to be a real and recent image, these actions are not in line with the values of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces, the Army) and the expected behavior of IDF soldiers,” one of the spokespersons for the armed forces, Nadav Shoshani, reported in a statement.
“Measures will be taken”
The spokesperson assured that the “incident will be thoroughly and deeply investigated” and that, if necessary, “measures will be taken” based on what was discovered.
The image has been spread on X since Palestinian journalist Yunis Tirawi shared it this Sunday.
It shows a soldier from the Israeli Army, with a long hammer, hitting the face of a carving of the crucified Jesus Christ that has been taken down from the cross on which it was located, remaining inverted and resting on the ground. The photography is in an open space, and not inside a church.
According to Tirawi and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the figure was in the village of Debel, in the central sector of southern Lebanon, which remains militarily occupied by Israel.
The cross was part of a small shrine in the garden of a family who lives on the outskirts of the village, said Fadi Falfel, a priest from Debel.
Debel is one of the towns in southern Lebanon that are now under effective Israeli occupation. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a US-brokered ceasefire aimed at stopping fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu condemns the destruction of Christ with hammers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned this Monday “in the strongest terms” the destruction with hammers of a Catholic figure representing Jesus on the cross at the hands of an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon.
“I condemn this act in the strongest terms. The military authorities are carrying out a criminal investigation and will take the appropriate disciplinary measures against the person responsible,” the president said in a message shared on X.
Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all
Netanyahu took advantage of this incident to reiterate “Jewish values of tolerance and mutual respect” towards all religions and assured that “the Christian population in Israel is prospering.”
“We deeply regret the incident and the harm it has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world,” the leader added in his message on X.
“Israel is the only country in the region in which the Christian population and standard of living are growing. Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all,” he stressed.
Furthermore, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has said in X that “swift, severe and public consequences are needed.”
Catholic leaders demand discipline for Israeli soldier
The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land demanded this Monday that “immediate and decisive disciplinary action” be applied to the Israeli Army soldier who destroyed a statue of Jesus Christ with a hammer in a village in southern Lebanon.
“This act constitutes a serious affront against the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in southern Lebanon,” the assembly detailed in a statement.
