Two Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers have received brief prison sentences after putting a cigarette into the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in occupied Lebanon.
The incident is not the first in which IDF soldiers have been caught desecrating Christian symbols. Last month two soldiers were filmed smashing the face of Jesus on an upturned crucifix.
Both incidents occurred in the Christian village of Debel in Lebanon. The soldier who placed the cigarette in the statues mouth was sentenced to three weeks in military prison, while the soldier who photographed the scene was given two weeks.
The punishments are in line with what was given to the soldiers who desecrated the crucifix. They were sentenced to a month in military prison and removed from active combat duty.
On both occasions Israeli authorities denounced the actions of their soldiers, with last month’s incident receiving such attention that even the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, felt the need to comment.
Netanyahu said he was “stunned and saddened” and added “I condemn the act in the strongest terms.”
On the latest outrage, an IDF spokesperson said it viewed “the incident with great severity”. The IDF added that it respected freedom of religion and the sanctity of holy sites and symbols.
“Procedures regarding conduct around religious institutions and religious symbols are routinely reinforced to troops prior to entering the relevant areas,” it said.
Debel’s parish priest, Father Fadi Felfeli, told the BBC that incident “shows that there are individuals within the army that lack ethics and values and are bigoted”.
Israel’s actions in Lebanon, which are ostensibly aimed at the militant group Hezbollah, have sometimes proved deadly to local Christians caught in the crossfire.
In March a Catholic priest was killed by an IDF tank shell while he was attempting to help parishioners in a family home.
