The image, which has gone viral on social media, was reportedly taken weeks ago in the southern Lebanese village of Debl
An Israeli soldier has been pictured desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon in the latest attack on Christian religious symbols.
The photo shows an Israeli soldier, with a cigarette in his own mouth, placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in Debl, a Christian border village in the Bint Jbeil district.
According to Israeli media, the photo was taken “weeks ago” but only went viral earlier this week.
Israeli forces have advanced into the area in recent days as part of a widening ground invasion.
Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel resumed on 2 March. Despite ongoing attacks, the war has largely paused since an April truce.
The Israeli military now occupies the entire border region in southern Lebanon, extending several kilometres inland and encompassing around 80 towns and villages, dozens of which have been razed to the ground as part of an ongoing scorched-earth campaign.
While Christian border villages like Debl, Ain Ebel and Rmeish have largely been spared the devastation of surrounding areas, Israeli forces have destroyed private property there and fired artillery.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the photo, but soldiers are rarely held accountable for such actions. The incident has prompted angry reactions online and wide condemnation.
The image comes weeks after another photo showing an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus in a Lebanese village went viral. That statue was later replaced by the Italian contingent of the UN peacekeeping force operating in southern Lebanon.
Israel’s military is infamous for desecrating Christian and Muslim holy sites in areas it has invaded and occupied, particularly the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Since invading Lebanon in 2024, when the war dramatically escalated with the Hezbollah militant group, Israel has destroyed several shrines, mosques, and churches. Widespread looting of homes has also been reported.
While these sites lie within the security zone established by Israel along the border, the targeting of religious symbols such as statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary appears unrelated to any immediate military objective and cannot be justified under any circumstances.
More than 2,700 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since the war resumed in early March. Much of the area south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon has been forcibly emptied by Israel of its residents.
