Israeli Army Again Offends, This Time by Defacing a Statue of the Virgin Mary in Lebanon

Israeli army doctors in southern Lebanon. (Source: IDF)

JAKARTA - An Israeli soldier is seen defiling a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, according to footage circulating online.

According to Israel's public broadcaster KAN, on Wednesday, the footage - believed to have been filmed and uploaded online by soldiers - showed an Israeli soldier "smoking while putting another cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary."

The broadcaster said the Israeli military had confirmed "this issue is under review," Anadolu quoted (7/5).

The incident comes amid a series of reported attacks and violations involving Christian symbols and sites in Christian-majority towns occupied by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, which have drawn criticism of Israel in Christian communities around the world.

Among the latest cases is an Israeli soldier destroying a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon and Israeli police preventing the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in East Jerusalem during the April holidays and imposing restrictions on Christian participation in the Easter celebrations.

A number of incidents of Israeli occupation spitting on churches and priests in Jerusalem have also been documented, along with attacks on churches in Gaza during the war that began in October 2023.