Israeli soldier desecrates statue of Blessed Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon

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Israeli soldier desecrates statue of Blessed Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon
The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land issued a firm rebuke calling the incident ‘disrespectful and outrageous behaviour that must stop immediately.’



Our Lady of Graces of the Miraculous Medal
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May 7, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — A photograph showing an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon has sparked widespread outrage, particularly among Christian communities.

The image, which surfaced publicly this week, was taken in the predominantly Christian village of Debel and shows the soldier smoking a cigarette while placing another cigarette in the mouth of the Blessed Virgin Mary statue.

Christian leaders have strongly condemned this latest incident of desecration, with the Custodia Terrae Sanctae (Custody of the Holy Land), the Franciscan religious order responsible for Catholic holy sites in the region, issuing a firm rebuke calling the incident “disrespectful and outrageous behaviour that must stop immediately.”

“We call on the Israeli government and the IDF to act and send a clear message that such behaviour is unacceptable, must not happen again, and that the case be handled with the utmost seriousness,” the Franciscans further demanded.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they are investigating the incident. In a statement, the military claimed it viewed the matter “gravely” and promised to take action against the soldier involved.


Desire to suppress Christianity ‘without raising international alarm bells’

This is the second such desecration reported in Debel in recent weeks. On April 19, a photograph surfaced on X and other social media outlets showing an Israeli soldier smashing the head of a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer. The image quickly went viral and sparked global outrage among Christians, including the Catholic bishops of the Holy Land who issued an “unreserved condemnation” of the desecration.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa stated that the act “constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon.”

Following the public outcry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the act, and the two soldiers involved—one who wielded the sledgehammer and another who filmed it—were reportedly removed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days in jail.

READ: Israel replaces smashed statue of Jesus, arrests soldiers who destroyed it

Close observers have noted that Israeli authorities reserve such swift condemnations and action against anti-Christian desecrations, vandalism and physical attacks to when they gain widespread global attention and risk eroding U.S. and other international support for Israel.

This decision to take disciplinary action against the two soldiers is noteworthy, as it contrasts with the Israeli military’s typical handling of alleged violations by its troops. In the vast majority of such investigations, soldiers are ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.

This pattern was confirmed by a Catholic priest and longtime resident of Jerusalem in a LifeSiteNews interview in April. Citing sources, he explained how the Israeli policy in dealing with the Christian presence in the Holy Land reflects an intentional effort “to limit church apostolic activity as much as possible without raising international alarm bells.”


‘Judeo-Chrtistian’ values ‘one of the biggest lies in history’

Israel repeatedly claims that it does not target religious sites, yet the long ongoing history of their destroying clearly identifiable Christian religious buildings and symbols tells a completely different story.

READ: Catholic leaders in Holy Land decry escalating Jewish attacks against Christians, shrines

In his commentary on the desecration of the Blessed Virgin Mary statue, British Catholic analyst George Galloway called it a “particularly repugnant and provocative display” of “anti-Catholic hatred,” especially in the month of May, which is dedicated to Our Lady.

He cited “a dramatic spike in the desecration of Catholic churches, attacks on Catholic pilgrims, (and) attacks on nuns in the streets of Jerusalem by so-called Israeli settlers.”

Such behavior reveals “what the attitude to Jesus Christ the Messiah is in Israel,” along with “the attitude to the followers of Jesus Christ and his Holy Mother Mary in this month of May,” he said. And all of this puts an end “to the notion that there is anything called Judeo-Christian values. This is one of the biggest lies in history.”