JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, April 20 (Reuters) - A photo showing the desecration of a crucifix smashed by an Israeli soldier in a southern Lebanese village home to Christians drew widespread condemnation on Monday from Israeli leaders, the United States and church leaders.
A photo that emerged online over the weekend shows a soldier taking the blunt side of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross. It was posted by Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian reporter who has also posted images of Israeli soldiers’ apparent misconduct in Gaza.
Reuters verified the location of the image as Debel, one of the few villages in southern Lebanon where residents remained through an Israeli military campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia that began on March 2 after the group fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran.
The cross was part of a small shrine in the garden of a family living on the edge of the village, said Fadi Falfel, a priest in Debel.
“One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this horrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,” he said.
