Israeli military helps replace damaged crucifix in Lebanon, punishes soldiers who destroyed it

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) helped a Catholic village in southern Lebanon replace a crucifix that one of its soldiers destroyed with a sledgehammer and punished two soldiers who took part in the desecration.

“In full coordination with the local community of Debel in southern Lebanon, the damaged statue was replaced by IDF troops,” the Israeli military announced in an April 21 post on X.

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“The Northern Command worked to coordinate the replacement of the statue from the moment it received the report of the incident,” they said. “The IDF expresses deep regret over the incident and is working to ensure that it does not happen again in the future.”

The response comes after a photo circulated on social media that showed an Israeli soldier striking the face of Christ on a damaged crucifix with a sledgehammer. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, called the act “a grave affront to the Christian faith.”

In a separate post, the IDF confirmed that the soldier depicted with the sledgehammer and the soldier who took the photo will receive 30 days of military detention and will be removed from combat duty.

Six other members of the IDF were present and did not act or report the incident, according to the IDF. Those soldiers were summoned for “clarification discussions” and further actions might be taken.

The IDF’s inquiry determined that the conduct of the soldiers involved “completely deviated from IDF orders and values.”

According to the IDF: “Procedures regarding conduct with religious institutions and symbols were reinforced to the troops prior to their entry into the relevant areas and will be reinforced again for all troops in the area following the incident.”

The post stated that the chief of general staff “condemned the incident and stated that it constitutes unacceptable conduct and a moral failure, far exceeding any acceptable standard and contradicting IDF values and the expected conduct of its troops.”

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In a statement through the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land on April 20, Pizzaballa said even amid the destruction of the statue, “the cross remains unassailable in its meaning.”

“As St. Paul the Apostle declares, ‘Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Gal 6:14),” his statement read. “For believers, the cross endures as a source of dignity, hope, and redemption, and as a summons to overcome violence through sacrificial love.”