“Stunned and saddened”: Netanyahu condemns IDF soldier for destroying Jesus Chr statue in Lebanese village

3 min readApr 20, 2026 08:51 PM A photo showing an Israeli soldier smashing and desecrating a crucifix in a southern Lebanese village that is home to Chrians drew widespread condemnation on Monday. Israeli leaders, the United States and church leaders flayed the incident after a photo emerged online over the weekend that shows a soldier taking the blunt side of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross. It was posted Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian reporter who has also posted images of Israeli soldiers’ apparent misconduct in Gaza, Reuters reported.
The news agency verified the ⁠location of ​the image as Debel, one of the few villages in southern Lebanon where residents remained through an Israeli military campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia that began on March 2 after the group fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran.
The cross was part of a small shrine in the garden of ​a family living ​on the edge of the village, said Fadi Falfel, ⁠a priest in Debel.“One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this horrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,” he said.
Netanyahu’s statement
Netanyahu said he was “stunned and saddened” to learn that an IDF soldier had damaged a Catholic religious icon. “I condemn the act in the strongest terms,” he posted.

As the Jewish state, Israel cherishes and upholds the Jewish values of tolerance and mutual respect between Jews and worshippers of all faiths. All religions flourish in our land and we view members of all faiths as equals in building our society and region.
Yesterday, like the…
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 20, 2026
He said that authorities would take disciplinary action after completing an investigation into the incident. He claimed that, unlike in West Asia, Israel is a Jewish country where people of all religions can flourish.

Israeli Foreign Miner condemns act
Israeli Foreign Miner Gideon Saar also condemned the incident, saying the act was grave and disgraceful.”
In a post on X Saar said the damaging of Chrian religious symbol an IDF soldier in southern Lebanon was “completely contrary to the values.”

The damaging of a Chrian religious symbol an IDF soldier in southern Lebanon is grave and disgraceful.
I commend the IDF for its statement,for condemning the incident, and for conducting an investigation into the matter. I’m confident that the necessary strict measures…
— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) April 20, 2026
US calls for ‘swift, severe’ actionStory continues below this ad
US Ambassador to Israel ‌Mike Huckabee said on X that “Swift, severe, & public consequences are needed.”
The Assembly of ‌Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, which includes Jerusalem’s Catholic Cardinal Pierbatta Pizzaballa said in a statement that the act “constitutes a grave affront to the Chrian faith.”
“It further reveals a durbing failure in moral and human formation, wherein even the most elementary reverence for the sacred and for the dignity of others has been gravely compromised,” the statement said.
With inputs from Reuters
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