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Israel’s prime minister, foreign minister and military minister on Monday condemned the desecration of a cross that was smashed by an Israeli soldier at a Christian home in southern Lebanon.
A photo that surfaced online over the weekend shows a soldier taking the blunt side of an ax to a carved image of Jesus on the cross. It was written by Younis Tirawi, who describes himself as a Palestinian journalist and has also posted pictures of Israeli soldiers misbehaving in Gaza.
Reuters confirmed the photo’s location as Debel, one of the few villages in southern Lebanon where civilians were left behind during the Israeli military’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters that began on March 2 after the group fired rockets into Israel in support of Iran.
The cross was part of a small temple in the garden of a family living on the outskirts of the village, said Fadi Falfel, a priest in Debel.
“One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this terrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,” he said.
Under the cover of a 10-day ceasefire with Israel, Lebanese civilians poured into the south to survey the damage after six weeks of war, despite Israeli warnings not to return to southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the soldier’s actions were against Jewish principles of tolerance and he would be punished.
“I was surprised and disappointed when I heard that an IDF soldier damaged the icon of the Catholic religion in southern Lebanon. I strongly condemn this act,” X wrote on social media.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on X “swift, tough and public results are needed.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the soldier’s actions were disgraceful and disgraceful. “We apologize for this incident and for every Christian who was hurt,” Saar told X.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] views this incident with great difficulty and emphasizes that the behavior of the soldiers does not at all correspond to the standards expected of its soldiers.” The IDF is working to assist the community in returning the statue to its place.
Debel is one of the many villages in southern Lebanon that are now under Israeli occupation. On Thursday, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire agreement aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We have all kinds of problems,” Falfel said.
“We thought that the ceasefire would bring us relief but we are still surrounded, we cannot go back and forth from the city. There are some houses on the edge of the city that we are forbidden to enter.”
Israeli military officials say they are working with aid organizations to meet the humanitarian needs of Debel and other villages.
