Social media customers condemn Western silence on assaults on non secular symbols and websites by Israeli troopers and settlers.
Revealed On 19 Apr 2026
A viral {photograph} displaying an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer has sparked outrage.
In a press release on Monday, the Israeli army confirmed the authenticity of the picture that was broadly shared on-line, garnering greater than 5 million views on X.
It mentioned that following an preliminary evaluation, it was decided that the {photograph} confirmed an Israeli soldier “working in southern Lebanon”, the place Israel final month launched a floor invasion at the side of aerial bombardment amid its joint war with the United States on Iran.
The army added that an investigation had been opened and that “acceptable measures shall be taken towards these concerned in accordance with the findings”.
Commenting on social media, Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, wrote pointedly: “We’ll wait to listen to the police spokesperson declare that ‘the soldier felt threatened by Jesus’.”
Ahmad Tibi, one other Palestinian member of the Knesset, wrote on Fb that those that blow up mosques and church buildings in Gaza and spit on Christian clergy in Jerusalem with out punishment will not be afraid to destroy a statue of Jesus Christ and publish it.
“Maybe these racists have additionally realized from Donald Trump to insult Jesus Christ and insult Pope Leo?” he requested, referring to the US president’s latest controversies, together with his now-deleted AI-generated image that portrayed him as a Jesus-like determine and his feud with the pinnacle of the Roman Catholic Church, who has criticised the struggle on Iran.
A number of activists, lecturers and writers additionally criticised the desecration of the statue, which was situated on the outskirts of the village of Debl in southern Lebanon, close to the border with Israel.
Social media customers additionally condemned the worldwide silence following assaults by Israeli troopers and settlers towards non secular websites and symbols.
“When the Western world stays silent, racists go additional,” mentioned Tibi.
Israeli forces repeatedly attacked non secular websites, together with mosques and church buildings, throughout Israel’s genocidal struggle on Gaza. Within the occupied West Financial institution, in the meantime, settlers vandalised or attacked 45 mosques final yr, in line with the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Non secular Affairs.
Individually, the Non secular Freedom Knowledge Heart (RFDC) documented at the very least 201 incidents of violence towards Christians, primarily dedicated by Orthodox Jews concentrating on worldwide clergy or people displaying Christian symbols, between January 2024 and September 2025.
Nearly all of these incidents, which included a number of types of harassment, together with spitting, verbal abuse, vandalism and assaults, came about in Jerusalem’s Previous Metropolis, situated in occupied East Jerusalem.
