Outrage over Israeli soldier's vandalism of Jesus statue in Lebanon

Images circulated showing an Israeli soldier appearing to strike a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer on a crucifix outside a family home near Debel, southern Lebanon. The incident drew widespread condemnation. Israel's prime minister said he was stunned and saddened; Israel's foreign minister apologised; the IDF said the conduct was wholly inconsistent with its values and promised to take appropriate measures and to restore the statue with the local Christian community. The social media post by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the statue was written in English. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called for swift, severe, and public consequences.

Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Tehran.

The IDF published a map showing a 'forward defence area' intended to stop Hezbollah firing anti-tank missiles at northern Israel and to prevent cross-border raids.

A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into force, pausing about six weeks of fighting. Thousands of Israeli troops occupy a wide area of southern Lebanon as part of a forward defence arrangement.

Israel began a military campaign in March 2026, displacing more than a million Lebanese and causing over 2,290 deaths in Lebanon, including 177 children and 100 healthcare workers, according to Lebanese authorities. Thirteen Israeli soldiers and two civilians were killed by Hezbollah attacks in the same period.

Last month, Israeli police prevented the top Roman Catholic leader in Jerusalem from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for a private Palm Sunday mass, an action police attributed to safety concerns during the Iran war.

Two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Tehran, Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran.

A 2025 Rossing Center report described a surge in overt animosity toward Christianity in the Holy Land, linking it to polarisation and ultra-nationalist political trends.