Israeli soldier caught on camera desecrating Virgin Mary statue in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military has launched an investigation after a photo of a soldier desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon went viral. According to The Times of Israel, the military said Wednesday it considers the incident 'severe' and will take action against the soldier involved.

Preliminary inquiries indicate the photo was taken in the predominantly Christian village of Debel several weeks ago but was only shared online Wednesday. The image shows the soldier placing a cigarette in the mouth of the Virgin Mary statue, while he himself is smoking.

This is the latest in a series of incidents involving Israeli soldiers desecrating religious sites, destroying or looting property in southern Lebanon. Last month, another soldier was photographed vandalizing a statue of Jesus in the same village. According to Lebanese media, Israeli soldiers also used bulldozers to destroy solar panels in Debel — which provided electricity for the town's water system — along with destroying homes, roads, and olive trees.

These incidents occur amid Israel's intensified attacks on Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, on the pretext of targeting Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure. Israeli forces continue to occupy large areas of southern Lebanon and have razed entire villages in the region. The scale of destruction has raised concerns among Lebanese officials and residents that those displaced by the war will have no homes to return to.

In a related development, concerns are growing over Israel's treatment of Christians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Religious groups have reported an increase in harassment and violence against pilgrims, clergy, and Palestinian Christian residents, including assaults and spitting — often carried out by extremist Jewish students. Last month, a French nun was attacked near Jerusalem's Old City. Video shows a man chasing the nun, pushing her to the ground causing a head injury, then later kicking her while she lay on the ground before bystanders intervened.

Israeli authorities often swiftly condemn such incidents when they attract global attention, but experts say action is usually only taken when incidents risk eroding U.S. and international support for Israel. After the nun attack surfaced, Israeli police said they arrested a 36-year-old man. And after backlash over the destruction of the Jesus statue in Debel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office quickly issued a condemnation. The two soldiers involved — one who smashed the statue with a sledgehammer and the other who recorded the video — were stripped of combat duties and sentenced to 30 days in prison. In March, Netanyahu's office also apologized after Israeli police blocked Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.

Israel's disciplinary action against the soldiers involved in the Debel incident stands out amid the rarity of military investigations finding fault with soldiers' conduct. Over the past decade, no Israeli soldier has been convicted of killing a Palestinian, despite more than 72,000 people killed in Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, mostly women and children. Thousands more have been killed outside Gaza, including Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — a Christian — who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank in 2022. Israeli forces have destroyed more than 800 mosques in Gaza during the war, including the Great Omari Mosque — the largest and oldest in the strip. Its 1,400-year-old minaret was destroyed and its structure heavily damaged. Several Christian churches have also been attacked, including Saint Porphyrius Church — the oldest church in Gaza and the third oldest in the world.