Netanyahu vows punishment for Israeli soldier shown hitting Jesus statue

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he was “stunned and saddened” by a photo of an Israeli soldier striking a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon.

“I condemn the act in the strongest terms,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X, adding that military authorities would take “harsh disciplinary action against the offender.”

“We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world,” the Israeli leader said in his post.

Confirming the authenticity of the photo, which spread quickly on social media, the Israel Defense Forces said earlier Monday in a post on X that it was taking the incident with “great severity,” adding that the “soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops.”

The incident is being investigated by the Israeli Northern Command and is currently being “addressed through the chain of command,” the military added.

It said “appropriate measures will be taken against those involved” but provide any further detail.

The Israel army said it was working with the community in Lebanon to “restore the statue to its place,” adding that it is “operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols.”

According to local media, the fallen statue was in the Christian village of Debl, near the Israeli border in an area IDF forces have occupied for several weeks, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. 

“One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this horrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,” Fadi Falfel, a priest in the town, told the Reuters news agency. 

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, said in a post Monday on X that “swift, severe & public consequences are needed.”

The incident comes after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Thursday to stop fighting between the IDF and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. Israeli forces invaded the south of Lebanon as Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Lebanese officials say nearly 2,300 people have been killed by the Israeli offensive in the country, which has displaced more than 1 million others.

In July 2025, Israel struck the only Catholic Church in Gaza, killing at least three people and wounding its priest. The incident prompted Christian leaders from around the world to urge Israel to stop its destruction of holy sites and civilian lives in Gaza and the West Bank.