Not a fake photo: Israeli soldier demolished Jesus Christ statue in Lebanon; IDF promises Christians that...

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the alleged damaging of a statue of Jesus Christ by one of its personnel in southern Lebanon. The picture of a uniformed IDF soldier pounding the upside-down statue with a sledgehammer had sparked online outrage, even across Israel's allied nations.

The photo of vandalism is genuine, the IDF confirmed, adding that the soldier involved will face repercussions following the investigation. According to the IDF, “it was determined that the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon.” The Northern Command will assist the Christian community in Lebanon to restore the statue to its place.

“The IDF views the incident with great severity and emphasises that the soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops,” the official reaction confirmed. The incident is being investigated by the Northern Command and is being handled “through the chain of command,” the official release said.

Meanwhile, the Times of Israel said in a report that the statue was situated in the Christian village of Debel in southern Lebanon, and the vandalism likely happened during IDF operations against Hezbollah in the area surrounding the community.

Additionally, the Israeli military has published a map of southern Lebanon territory under its control. The Israeli military published, for the first time, a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon on Sunday, bringing dozens of mostly abandoned Lebanese villages under its control, days after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.

There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials or from Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a U.S.-backed ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.