The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed this week that it was investigating the context of an image appearing to show one of its soldiers mocking a statue of the Virgin Mary by holding a cigarette to her mouth and smoking in her face.
Multiple reports indicated that the image was taken in the southern Lebanese town of Dibil, which the IDF invaded and seized as part of its ongoing campaign to control much of the south of the country and create an alleged “buffer zone” between the Israeli and Lebanese population. Israeli authorities claim that the mass displacement of Lebanese on their own land – over a million people, many of them indigenous Christians, have been forced out of their homes – is necessary to eliminate the presence of the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah on the Israeli border. Israeli authorities claim that Hezbollah has created a sprawling terrorist infrastructure, including tunnels and stockpiles of weapons, throughout residential communities in Lebanon.
The humanitarian crisis has been amplified by entire communities of Christians in the country who have refused to leave their homes contrary to IDF mandates, heeding the call of Pope Leo XIV, who discouraged the abandonment of Christian homelands during his visit to Lebanon in December.
Reports indicated that the photo in question began circulating on social media on Wednesday. Initially, a report by the Israeli broadcaster KAN claimed that the photo had been taken this week. The IDF later clarified that it believed that the photo was weeks old, implying that it believed it was authentic. A separate video image has circulated this week apparently showing a soldier engaging in the same action, but the IDF has not at press time addressed that video, nor could Breitbart News verify that the separate social media video was not created by artificial intelligence (AI).
May is widely celebrated around the world as the month of Mary for Catholics, who engage in a ritual known as the May Crowning in which statues of the mother of Jesus are venerated with flowers and adorned with crowns. The Catholic observance of May as the month of Mary would make the already offensive desecration of the statue in the photo especially inopportune if confirmed to have taken place this month.
The Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today reported that the Israeli army addressed the controversy, asserting that it takes the accusations “very seriously.”
“After an initial review, it appears that the photo in question was taken several weeks ago,” Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a public statement on Wednesday. “An investigation will be conducted and disciplinary measures will be taken against the soldier, depending on the findings of this investigation.”
“The Israeli army respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as the holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” the statement continued. “The Israeli army conducts operations to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in south Lebanon and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings and religious symbols.”
“The Israeli army takes this incident very seriously and stresses that the soldier’s behavior is completely contrary to the values expected of its personnel,” he emphasized.
The Times of Israel also reported that the image was taken in the village of Dibil, or Debel. The village was the site of a separate Christian icon desecration in April, in which an IDF soldier photographed himself taking a hammer to the head of a crucifix, apparently before beheading Jesus. The IDF confirmed that the photo was legitimate and, following an investigation, announced that the soldier in the photo would be sentenced to jail time for his behavior.
“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 IDF announced.
The IDF also announced that it had given the town of Dibil a new crucifix, but images from the IDF showed a cross of a different size and featuring artwork not consistent with the Catholic crucifix originally in the town.
Italian soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) later gave the town a replica of the crucifix destroyed by the IDF, which the town accepted.
Last week, the IDF confirmed that its soldiers had “operated” in an attack on a convent that its inhabitants had to evacuate, claiming that the convent did not have any overt religious iconography indicating it was a religious building and blaming Hezbollah for using the convent’s compound for terrorism.
“After identifying religious indicators in the complex, the forces acted to prevent further damage,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “The IDF takes care to destroy only terror infrastructure and has no intention of harming religious buildings.”