Israeli soldiers jailed for breaking Jesus statue

An Israeli soldier was sentenced to 21 days in prison for damaging a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, Israeli military spokeswoman Ariella Mazor said Monday. A photo of the soldier striking the statue’s head with what appeared to be a sledgehammer sparked an investigation in mid-April when the image began circulating on social media. The Israeli military later confirmed the authenticity of the photo.

Another soldier who filmed the incident received a two-week sentence to military prison, Mazor said. The disciplinary actions against both soldiers came after commanders on the ground reviewed what happened, she said. The Israeli military took the incident very seriously, she said. It had policies in place to respect holy sites and religious symbols in its areas of operation, she added.

The news came amid a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Israel on Thursday carried out an airstrike in Beirut that killed a top commander of the Hezbollah terror group, the Israeli military said. But Lebanese authorities said the strike hit a residential building.

How many Christians live in Lebanon? About 30% of Lebanon’s population is Christian, according to a 2022 U.S. State Department report. That’s about 1.7 million people. Most of them are Maronite Catholic or Greek Orthodox, though that estimate also includes some Protestants and other Catholic traditions.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’s earlier report for The Sift on the incident.