A new controversy has emerged over conduct by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, after a widely circulated video showing an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in the Christian village of Debel has prompted a formal military inquiry. Though the photograph of the incident was first shared publicly on Wednesday, Israeli military investigators confirm the act took place several weeks ago in the village, which sits just five kilometers from the Israeli border and six kilometers northwest of the Lebanese Christian town of Ain Ebel.
In an official statement following the viral spread of the footage, the Israeli military noted that it has already identified the soldier responsible, and confirmed disciplinary action will be issued once the investigation concludes. The service emphasized that it views the incident with severe seriousness, stressing that the soldier’s actions stand in complete opposition to the ethical standards and values the military requires of all its personnel. “The incident will be investigated, and command measures against the soldier will be taken in accordance with the findings,” the military’s statement read. It also added that the Israeli military upholds respect for freedom of religion and worship, along with holy sites and religious symbols belonging to all faiths and communities, and maintains that it has no intent to damage civilian infrastructure, including religious structures or sacred symbols.
This latest incident is not an isolated event in Debel: just one month prior, another Israeli soldier used a jackhammer to destroy a statue of Jesus on a cross in the same village. Images of that earlier act of vandalism sparked immediate widespread outrage across social media, even drawing condemnation from prominent conservative allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a sarcastic remark on the social platform X in response to the images, writing, “’Our greatest ally’ that takes billions of our tax dollars and weapons every year.” Fellow former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz called the vandalism “horrific.” In response to that earlier incident, the Israeli military announced it had discharged the soldier who destroyed the statue, along with a second soldier who filmed the act, and sentenced both to 30 days of military prison. More recently, additional footage from Debel has documented Israeli military excavators destroying civilian solar panels, an act that is also currently under military review.
The Debel incidents are part of a growing string of attacks on Christian religious sites across southern Lebanon, according to religious organizations. Last week, a French Catholic charity L’Oeuvre d’Orient issued a formal condemnation of Israeli forces after they demolished a convent run by the Salvatorian Sisters, a Greek Catholic order, in the Lebanese village of Yaroun. In its statement, the organization said, “L’Oeuvre d’Orient strongly condemns this deliberate act of destruction against a place of worship, as well as the systematic demolition of homes in southern Lebanon aimed at preventing the return of civilian populations.” The charity added that the convent demolition fits into a broader pattern of targeting Christian heritage, noting that multiple Christian sanctuaries, including Melkite churches in Yaroun and Derdghaya—both officially protected as part of Lebanon’s national heritage—were destroyed during 2024 hostilities.
Attacks against Christian communities and individuals have also intensified in occupied Palestinian territories, according to recent reports. Last week in occupied East Jerusalem, a 48-year-old nun was physically assaulted by an Israeli civilian near the Cenacle on Mount Zion, requiring medical care for facial injuries sustained in the attack. Religious authorities have also faced repeated restrictions on worship: Israeli police recently blocked Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and other clergy from holding the traditional Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, only partially reversing the access ban after widespread international pressure.
A 2025 report from the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue has documented a dramatic spike in anti-Christian incidents across the region, describing a “continued and expanding pattern of intimidation and aggression.” The center recorded 155 separate incidents in 2025 alone: the total includes 61 physical assaults, 52 attacks on church-owned property, 28 cases of religious harassment, and 14 instances of vandalism against religious signage. Researchers warn that the documented count represents only the “tip of the iceberg,” with many more incidents going unreported.
These developments come even as Israel maintains ongoing military activity in Lebanon despite an April 17 ceasefire agreement that was meant to end over six weeks of open conflict. Since large-scale hostilities began on March 2, more than 2,600 people have been killed in the fighting, and over 8,000 more have been wounded.