Israeli Soldiers Jailed for Desecrating Virgin Mary Statue in Debel, Southern Lebanon

Two Israeli soldiers were sentenced to military prison for desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of the statue and the other photographed it.

The incident took place in the largely Maronite Christian village of Debel, a few kilometers from the Lebanese border with Israel, according to the account that said the photo went viral and sparked widespread outrage.

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The Israeli military said the soldier posing would get 21 days in military prison and the soldier who photographed the incident would get 14 days.

The Times of Israel said the photo was shared widely online last week and that the incident was investigated by the commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Sagiv Dahan, who decided the jail time.

The Guardian added that the photo appeared days after images of an Israeli soldier wielding an axe against a fallen statue of Jesus on the cross in the southern Lebanon village of Debel were roundly condemned by foreign leaders, Christian leaders and Israeli politicians.

Israel’s military said it “views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” as spokesperson Lt Col Ariella Mazor wrote on X.

The Times of Israel reported that the IDF “views the incident gravely, and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” and said “Procedures regarding conduct toward religious institutions and religious symbols are routinely clarified to forces before entering the relevant areas.”

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The Guardian said the punishments were unusual and pointed to Action on Armed Violence’s finding that Israel had closed down or left unresolved 88% of cases of alleged misconduct in Gaza and the West Bank.

In Poland, TVP World reported that Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski described the incident as an insult to religious feelings and said IDF troops needed additional training to act “in respect for other religions and cultures.”

The Guardian also said the photo circulated days after the axe incident in Debel, and that the military sentenced soldiers who participated in hacking down the crucifix to time in military prison.

The Guardian tied the desecration case to the wider Israel-Hezbollah conflict, saying Israel took control of southern Lebanon as part of the latest conflict with Hezbollah, which began on 2 March when the Tehran-backed Lebanese militant group fired missiles over the border two days after the US and Israel launched their war against Iran.

It added that Israel’s forces have remained despite a truce, and that the scale of destruction has Lebanese officials and residents worried that large numbers of displaced people will have nowhere to return if the fragile truce holds.

PBS, citing AP, said the incident occurred in southern Lebanon where Israel launched a ground invasion earlier this year to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, and that Israeli forces have remained despite a weekslong truce.

Daily Sabah reported that Israel’s military said a soldier who worked as a driver had been killed in combat near the border, marking the 18th soldier to die in the area since the start of the Iran war.

Across the coverage, the Israeli military’s position that it only targets buildings Hezbollah uses as outposts appeared alongside the concern that the destruction and displacement risks leaving people without a place to return if the truce holds.