IDF soldier seen placing cigarette in Virgin Mary statue’s mouth in Lebanese village

Image taken weeks ago in same village where soldier smashed Jesus statue; military says soldier will be disciplined in latest act of vandalism to be posted online

An IDF soldier was seen placing a cigarette into the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary, in a Christian village in southern Lebanon, in a photo shared online on Wednesday.

After identifying the soldier, the Israel Defense Forces said he will be disciplined.

In response to a query, the IDF said that it “views the incident gravely and emphasizes that the soldier’s conduct completely deviates from the values expected of its troops.”

An initial inquiry conducted by the IDF found that the photo was taken in the village of Debel several weeks ago, although it was only shared online on Wednesday.

The incident joins several other occurrences in which footage has been published of Israeli soldiers — oftentimes by the troops themselves — destroying or looting property. Debel was the village where a soldier smashed a statue of Jesus last month, as well as where soldiers were seen in footage showing military excavators damaging solar panels.

The two soldiers involved in vandalizing the statue were taken off combat duty and punished, while the incident with the solar panels is under investigation.

Debel, like several other Christian communities in southern Lebanon, has not been ordered by Israel to evacuate amid the fighting against Hezbollah.

“The incident will be investigated, and command measures against the soldier will be taken in accordance with the findings,” the IDF said on Wednesday.

The military said it “respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities” and has “no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols,” amid its fighting against Hezbollah.

Despite Israel’s protestations that it values relations with the Christian world, recent months have seen a string of embarrassing scandals and attacks on Christians that have strained Israel’s relations with the Christian community and highlighted a lack of clear policy.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on March 2, shortly after the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and by expanding its troops’ presence deeper into Lebanon.

The conflict entered a temporary ceasefire on April 17.

The ceasefire has now significantly eroded, though fighting remains at a lower level than before the truce was announced in mid-April, and the IDF has continued to limit the areas in which it carries out strikes.