Soldier strikes Jesus statue in Lebanon

Bibi: Action will be taken if IDF confirms the photo is authentic

Beirut: The Israeli military is conducting a criminal investigation after a soldier was photographed striking a Catholic statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Leba­n­on. Israel’s military officials said they had determined an image circulating on social media showing the incident was authentic. The image app­ears to show an Israeli soldier us­ing a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross, The Guardian reports.

The Catholic sculpture is located in Debl, a Christian village in south Lebanon near the border with Israel, the local municipality said. Offi­cials could not say whether it had been damaged.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the defacing of the religious symbol and said he was “stunned and saddened” when he found out about it. He added “harsh disciplinary action” would be taken against the individual responsible. The Israeli military said it was working with people in the village to “restore the statue in its place”.

The defacing of the religious statue provoked outrage in Lebanon and abroad, particularly among evangelicals in the US. Israel’s popularity among American evangelicals, traditionally a bastion of support for the country, has steadily decreased since the start of the war in Gaza.

The Italian government and papal authorities reacted with anger at the defacing of the Jesus statue, with Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto saying it was an “unacceptable and unjustifiable act”, adding to the chorus of condemnation from Rome.

In recent weeks tensions between the Vatican, Italy and the Israeli government have been building after Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo for his criticism of the war in Iran.

On March 29, Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni, voiced firm condemnation after Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, describing the episode as an offence to believers and to religious freedom.

Commenting on the recent defacing of the Jesus statue, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, said to the Italian broadcaster La7: “What is the real problem today? The risk is that a lack of culture infects every other dimension of life. Religious fundamentalism, or even civic or political fundamentalism, all share the same root: a total absence of culture. What matters is imposing oneself through force and violence.”

“I would like to point out to Benjamin Netanyahu that Jesus himself went to Tyre and Sidon, in southern Lebanon. But he did not go there to kill; he went to multiply bread, to heal, to perform miracles — not to destroy,” Paglia said.