Israel says image of soldier striking Jesus statue with sledgehammer in Lebanon is authentic
People drive past damaged homes as they return to the southern Lebanese village of Srifa April 19, 2026. — AFP pic
Monday, 20 Apr 2026 3:18 PM MYT
JERUSALEM, April 20 — Israel’s army said today it had determined that an image circulating on social media showing one of its soldiers in south Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is authentic.
The image appears to show an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head on a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross.
The sculpture is located in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel, the local municipality told AFP, but officials could not say whether it had been damaged.
Israel’s army said in a post on its official X account today that it viewed the incident with “great severity”, adding that the “soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops”.
“Following the completion of an initial examination regarding a photograph published earlier today of an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol, it was determined that the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon,” the army said.
The incident is being investigated by the Northern Command and is currently being “addressed through the chain of command”, it added.
The army said “appropriate measures will be taken against those involved” but did not go into further detail.
It said it is working with the community to “restore the statue to its place”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned what he called a “shameful and disgraceful” act.
“I am confident that necessary severe measures will be taken against whoever committed this ugly act,” he wrote on X.
“We apologise for this incident and to every Christian whose feelings were hurt.”
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March when the Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in support of Iran.
Israel responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and an invasion of the south.
Israeli troops have remained in the south despite a ceasefire between the two countries that began on Friday. — AFP
A new country is emerging in the Middle East?
ReplyDeleteThe Druze, with the support of Israel, now fully control the southern Syrian region of Sweida.
Sweida has almost half a million people. Over 85% are Druze and nearly 10% are Christian. It’s BY FAR the safest area for Christians in Syria.
Sweida could soon become the first overwhelmingly non-Muslim state in the Middle East since Israel"
- Boris Kfir Chainkinski
https://x.com/imtiazmadmood/status/2046180114044494149?s=46&t=8K6fzabO3g6uaj4KxwSSjg
Even when Ishmaels destroy statue of Jesus in Lebanon, people mistake it for Isaacs.
ReplyDelete🚨Regarding the incident with the smashing of the Jesus statue, we wanted to clarify something important:
We published a video showing a statue being destroyed by Muslims in Lebanon. The video is from December 2025, in which Muslims smashed a statue of Jesus because Christmas songs were playing from the church.
In the photo from the last few days, there is a soldier whose case is currently under heavy investigation and has drawn strong condemnations.
These are two entirely separate incidents - different locations and different times.
After we posted the video, many people mistakenly assumed it was the same statue from the soldier’s photo. Some even began using the video as if it were a continuation of that recent story, which is not true.
As stated, the video actually shows an incident from five months ago in which Muslims destroyed a statue of Jesus.
At the end of the video, we added a screenshot from a Lebanese news channel from five months ago as proof that the video depicts a different event - not the viral incident from the past few days.
https://x.com/vlamss/status/2046244518324826617?s=46&t=8K6fzabO3g6uaj4KxwSSjg
Wow… diversional fart
ReplyDelete