By Maayan Lubell and Maya Gebeily
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, April 20 (Reuters) – A photo showed an Israeli soldier desecrating a cross in a Christian village in southern Lebanon on Monday, drawing widespread condemnation from Israeli leaders, the United States and church leaders.
A photo emerged online over the weekend showing a soldier using the blunt edge of an ax to chop down a statue of Jesus on the cross. The news was posted by Palestinian journalist Younes Tirawi, who also published images of apparent misconduct by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Reuters confirmed that the image was taken in Debel, one of the few villages in southern Lebanon that is still inhabited by Israeli military operations against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia that began on March 2 when the group fired rockets into Israel in support of Iran.
Debel’s priest, Fadi Falfel, said the cross was part of a small shrine in the garden of a family living on the edge of the village.
“An Israeli soldier broke the cross and did this terrible thing, desecrating our sacred symbol,” he said.
The Catholic Ordinary Assembly of the Holy Land, which includes Jerusalem Catholic Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said in a statement that the act “constitutes a grave insult to the Christian faith.”
“It further reveals a disturbing failure of morality and human formation, in which even the most basic respect for the sacred and the dignity of others has been severely compromised,” the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the soldier’s actions violated Judaism’s values of tolerance and he would be punished.
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“Swift, severe and public consequences are needed,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the soldier’s actions were disgraceful and disgraceful. “We apologize for this incident and to every Christian whose feelings were hurt,” Sal said on X.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
“The IDF takes this incident very seriously and stresses that the soldier’s actions were completely inconsistent with the values of its force,” the military said. “The IDF is working to assist the community in restoring the statue to its original position.”
Debel is one of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon currently under effective Israeli occupation. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire aimed at halting fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We’re facing a variety of crises,” Falfair said.
“We thought a ceasefire would bring us some relief, but we are still surrounded and unable to enter or exit the town. There are some houses on the edge of town that we are prohibited from entering.”
Israeli military officials said they were working with aid agencies to meet humanitarian needs in Debel and other villages.
(Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Hugh Lawson)