Israel replaces smashed Lebanese crucifix as Meloni calls it a peace message

Summary

Houssam Naddaf described the moment he recognized an image from his family’s property in Debel, in southern Lebanon, after an Israeli soldier smashed a crucifix in the couple’s private garden—an incident that then circulated online and sparked condemnation. Naddaf said he had been unable to visit the house in person to assess the damage because of movement restrictions imposed by Israeli forces in the area.

Naddaf said the wider military situation is tied to the latest war, which began March 2 after an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group fired missiles over the border and followed steps by the United States and Israel connected to the Iran conflict. He said Israeli forces took control of the area as the war escalated, and he described a pattern of control and limits on civilians that persisted even after officials announced a truce last week.

Israel’s military later said it had replaced the sculpture, and Naddaf said the Israeli army brought a similar but smaller crucifix, offered an apology and installed it with village priests present. Naddaf said his family members were not at that installation and that they had instead been contacted by U.N. peacekeepers about a crucifix being offered by Italy.

Naddaf said his family decided to accept the Italian donation, describing it as a statue about the same size as the original, and to give the crucifix provided by Israel to a local church instead. He said the Italy-donated crucifix was erected in a ceremony Wednesday that included local priests, residents and U.N. peacekeepers, along with Naddaf and other members of his family.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sent a message from Italy calling the replaced statue “a powerful message of peace, hope, and dialogue.” Naddaf’s account also traced the crucifix’s meaning for his family, saying the original statue had been installed in the garden in 2018 as part of shared property that he and his three brothers divided into apartments for their families beginning in 2010.

Naddaf said his home sits on the edge of Debel, between the village and nearby Rmeish, which residents consider more exposed than the village center outside the main fighting zone. He said he moved with his wife and three children to his parents’ home deeper inside Debel when fighting reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2, and that during the crucifix installation he was escorted by U.N. peacekeepers and found the house in what he described as “total mess,” with nearby homes destroyed.

Naddaf said the ceasefire has not ended the risks to civilians in the border area. He said that after agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israeli forces have continued leveling neighborhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border, and that many Lebanese officials and residents worry displaced people will have nowhere to return if the fragile truce holds.

Israeli forces are occupying a border strip extending about 10 km (6 mi) into Lebanese territory, according to the military’s explanation that the area is a necessary buffer to protect northern towns from Hezbollah rockets. Naddaf said many Lebanese civilians fear prolonged displacement and that his family has been barred by the Israeli army from returning to their home despite the ceasefire.

Naddaf said that unlike during the 2024 war, when his family was displaced to Beirut, he and his household chose to remain in the village this time. “It was clear that the plan was expulsion, so we say good thing we didn’t leave this time,” he said, describing the disruption around his property as the conflict has continued.