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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Staff and agencies

Israeli troops jailed for desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon

Lebanon Israel Prison Hezbollah
A soldier smokes and pushes another cigarette onto the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary
The soldier who put the cigarette in the statue’s mouth was jailed for 21 days, and the one who took the photograph for 14. Photograph: Social Media/Reuters

Two Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian object after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other photographed it.

The photo of the soldier, a cigarette dangling from his own mouth, went viral and sparked widespread outrage. It was the latest act by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon to be denounced as anti-Christian.

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