IDF soldiers desecrate statues of the Virgin Mary in Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces initiated an official investigation into a soldier who vandalized a religious symbol in the Lebanese village of Debel. The incident involving the mockery of a religious symbol caused a wide public outcry after the publication of relevant photos on social networks.

According to the information resource Al Jazeera, the spread photo depicts an Israeli soldier who placed a lit cigarette in the mouth of the statue of the Virgin Mary and posed against the background of the desecrated image. According to preliminary information, the photo was taken several weeks ago in a predominantly Christian locality, but it has only recently become publicly available.

Representatives of the Israeli military command emphasized that they “take the incident seriously” and have already started an internal review. The incident is part of a series of attacks on shrines in the region, with another soldier reportedly destroying a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer in the same village a month earlier. In addition, according to the Lebanese media, the settlement recorded facts of targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure, including solar panels, water supply systems, residential houses and centuries-old olive trees.

Recall, earlier the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officially confirmed the fact of damage to the Christian temple in the village of Yarun in southern Lebanon during the recent hostilities. The incident provoked an international outcry and sharp criticism from Catholic organizations, which accused the military of deliberately destroying the Christian monastery.