In a statement issued by the Israeli military on Monday, confirmed the authenticity of the viral photo of an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ, saying that initial assessments showed that the photo was of an Israeli soldier taken during an operation in southern Lebanon, according to Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

The Israeli military said in a statement that an investigation has been launched into the incident and that appropriate action will be taken against those involved based on the results of the investigation.

Responding to the incident, Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) Ayman Odeh sarcastically wrote on social media that we will wait for the police spokesperson to claim that the soldier felt threatened by the statue of Jesus Christ.

Another Palestinian member of the Knesset, Ahmed Tayyibi, said in a statement on Facebook that those who blow up mosques and churches in Gaza and spit on Christian religious leaders in Jerusalem and get away with it are not afraid to destroy a statue of Jesus and publish his picture.

He added that perhaps these racists have also learned from Donald Trump how to insult Jesus and how to desecrate Pope Leo.

The statement was made in the context of the US president’s recent controversies, including an artificially generated image of him in which he appeared to portray himself as a figure similar to Jesus, while he also disagreed with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, who criticised the war in Iran.

Several social activists, academics and writers have also condemned the incident.

According to the report, the statue was located on the outskirts of the village of Debal in southern Lebanon, close to the Israeli border.

Social media users also condemned the global silence on attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers on religious sites and symbols. Israeli forces have targeted numerous religious sites, including mosques and churches, during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Similarly, settlers attacked or vandalised 45 mosques in the occupied West Bank last year, as confirmed by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs.