Residents in the village of Debel in southern Lebanon did not appreciate a statue of Jesus that was provided to them by the IDF after an Israeli soldier smashed the previous one.
Local villagers, with assistance from an Italian UNIFIL battalion, replaced the IDF’s statue with one identical to the broken one.
Residents reportedly were not interested in a statue given as a gift by the military.
Soldier who smashed statue removed from combat, sentenced to prison time
The IDF spokesman announced on Tuesday that the findings of the investigation into the statue-smashing incident, as well as the command recommendations issued in the aftermath, were presented to the commander of the 162nd Division, Brigadier General Sagiv Dahan.
The division commander removed the soldier who destroyed the Christian religious symbol and the soldier who photographed it from combat and sentenced them to 30 days in prison.
The IDF also stated that six additional soldiers who were present during the incident were summoned for exploratory talks to be held later, after which a decision will be made on further handling of the command delegations.
The investigation determined that the soldiers' conduct went beyond the scope of IDF orders. The IDF expressed deep regret over the incident and emphasized that its activities in Lebanon are against the terrorist organization Hezbollah and other terrorist elements - and not against Lebanese citizens.
"From the moment the report of the incident was received, the Northern Command is working to assist the village community in replacing the statue," the IDF said.