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The Israeli military is removing and detaining the soldier who was shown sledgehammering the face of a Jesus Christ statue in a picture taken in a Christian village in southern Lebanon that generated controversy this week — just weeks after dropping charges against five soldiers who were allegedly caught on camera raping a Palestinian detainee.
On Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a statement on the results of its two-day inquiry into the photo, posted on social media by an Israeli soldier this week. In the statement, the military expressed “deep regret over the incident.”
As a result, the soldier who was shown in the photo as well as the soldier who took the photo have been reportedly “removed from combat duty and will receive 30 days of military detention,” the military said. Six other troops who were present while the photo was taken and did not intervene or report have been summoned for inquiry, the military claimed, and will be subject to a later determination.
“The Chief of the General Staff condemned the incident and stated that it constitutes unacceptable conduct and a moral failure, far exceeding any acceptable standard and contradicting IDF values and the expected conduct of its troops,” the statement said.
The photo circulated online on Sunday when it was posted on social media by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi. It generated outrage from even the most staunch pro-Israel figures, who have otherwise ignored or excused Israel’s wanton killing and genocide in Gaza, Lebanon, and beyond.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that the photo required “severe” consequences.
“Glad that [Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs] has taken a strong stand to condemn this outrageous act by an IDF soldier-it doesn’t properly represent the IDF, Israel, or the Israeli gov’t,” said Huckabee on social media on Monday. “Swift, severe, & public consequences are needed.”
The military’s swift action on this comes just weeks after it dropped all charges against five soldiers who allegedly abused and raped a Palestinian detainee from Gaza in the notorious Sde Teiman military torture center. Video of the incident, which happened in 2024, was leaked to news outlets, and horrifically showed the soldiers pulling the detainee off to the side and trying to use barriers to shield what they were doing.
According to the military’s indictment, soldiers “stabb[ed] the detainee with a sharp object near his rectum, causing cracked ribs, a punctured lung and an internal tear,” as Al Jazeera reported. The abuse was so violent that the detainee was hospitalized afterward, and couldn’t walk. The detainee was being held without charge or trial.
When the soldiers were first summoned for questioning in relation to the incident, “right to rape” protests were sparked by Israeli citizens and soldiers, who stormed the military compound where the questioning was being done. Israel’s top military lawyer was forced to resign last year after she took responsibility for leaking the video of the assault, facing condemnation by top Israeli leaders.
The widespread latitude that the Israeli military affords its soldiers is part of a system of impunity for those who torture or kill Palestinians. Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, only one Israeli soldier has been sentenced for torturing a Palestinian detainee, despite widespread accounts of torture and other atrocities committed against Palestinian detainees.
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