Israel apologises for soldier’s crucifix desecration
The photo, which shows the desecration of a cross smashed by an Israeli soldier in a Christian village in southern Lebanon, has drawn widespread condemnation from Israeli, US and church leaders.
A photo that surfaced online over the weekend showed a soldier taking the blunt end of an ax to a statue of the fallen Jesus on the cross.
This was shared by Palestinian reporter Younis Tirawi, who also published footage of apparent abuses by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
Reuters confirmed that the location of the image was Debel, one of several villages in southern Lebanon where residents remained during the Israeli military campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, which began on March 2 after the group fired rockets into Israel in support of Iran.
Fadi Falfel, a priest in Debel, said the cross was part of a small shrine in the garden of a family living on the edge of the village.
“One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this terrible thing, this desecration of our sacred symbols,” he said.
The Council of Catholic Orders of the Holy Land, including Jerusalem’s Catholic Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said in a statement that the action “constitutes a grave insult to the Christian faith.”
“It also reveals a disturbing failure in moral and human formation, where even the most basic respect for the sacred and the dignity of others is seriously compromised,” the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the soldier’s actions were against Jewish values of tolerance and that he would be punished.
“I was shocked and saddened to learn that an Israeli soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in Southern Lebanon. I condemn this action in the strongest terms,” he wrote to
“Swift, serious and public consequences are needed,” US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the soldier’s actions were shameful and disgraceful. “We apologize for this incident and to all Christians whose feelings were hurt,” Saar said in a statement to channel X. he said.
The Israeli army stated that the incident was under investigation.
“The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) treats the incident with the utmost seriousness and emphasizes that the soldier’s behavior was completely inconsistent with the values expected of their unit,” the army said. he said.
“IDF is working to assist the community in restoring the statue to its location.”
Debel is one of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon currently under active Israeli occupation.
Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement on Thursday on a US-brokered ceasefire aimed at halting fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
