Two Israeli soldiers have been jailed for putting a cigarette into the mouth of a Virgin Mary statue in Debel, a Christian village in southern Lebanon.
The soldier holding the cigarette received a three-week military prison sentence, while the soldier who took the photograph was jailed for two weeks. The image was circulated online last week, although it is believed to have been taken before.
It happened in the same village where a crucifix was smashed by an Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldier. Both the perpetrator and photographer were detained and removed from frontline duty.
An IDF spokesperson said it “views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities”.
“Procedures regarding conduct around religious institutions and religious symbols are routinely reinforced to troops prior to entering the relevant areas”, a statement added.
Father Fadi Felfeli, who leads Debel’s congregation, told the BBC that it “shows that there are individuals within the [Israeli] army that lack ethics and values and are bigoted”.
Debel is one of the Christian villages that have not been evacuated, as Israeli forces continue operations in southern Lebanon. Airstrikes on Wednesday killed 8 people, two of them children, according to the country’s Health Ministry. The IDF has said it continues to target Hezbollah militants.
While Israeli authorities have maintained it respects freedom of religion, this incident is the latest in a series of attacks on Christians, which have strained relations. In the past week, bishops have raised concerns about threats from settlers to Christian residents in the West Bank, and a Bethlehem priest was forced to leave his congregation on Sunday after having his residency permit revoked.