The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that it was investigating after footage published by Lebanese media over the weekend showed military excavators damaging solar panels in the Christian village of Debel in southern Lebanon.
Debel is the same village where an IDF soldier was filmed smashing a statue of Jesus last week, sparking an international outcry.
“The actions seen in the video do not align with the values of the IDF and the conduct expected of its soldiers,” the military said in response to a query by The Times of Israel.
The IDF said the incident is under investigation, and according to the findings, action would be taken against the troops involved.
According to Lebanese media, Israeli soldiers also caused damage to water infrastructure in Debel, along with homes, roads, and olive trees.
Debel, like several other Christian communities in southern Lebanon, has not been ordered by Israel to evacuate amid the fighting against Hezbollah.
الجيش الاسرائيلي واصل عمليات الهدم والتخريب في بلدة دبل الحدودية حيث اقدم على جرف الواح الطاقات الشمسية التي تغذي البلدة بالكهرباء ومحطة المياه اضافة إلى بعض المنازل والطرقات وأشجار الزيتون pic.twitter.com/Etu9asXQGz
— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) April 25, 2026
Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that the IDF would raze all of the Lebanese border villages, which Israel ordered to evacuate — with the exception of the Christian communities — to prevent Hezbollah from staging attacks from them on Israel.
The IDF, however, has insisted that it is only destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, which it says is often embedded within civilian homes.
Last week, a soldier smashed a statue of Jesus in the Christian village, drawing widespread condemnation.
The soldier who smashed the statue, along with another soldier who photographed the act, were dismissed from combat duty and sentenced to 30 days in military jail.
The crucifix was replaced by a new statue donated by soldiers of UNIFIL’s Italian contingent. The Israeli military also delivered a replacement statue following the incident, although it was smaller and styled differently from the original.
Lebanese media published photos showing that the statue donated by the UN peacekeepers more closely resembles the original statue.
The statue delivered by the IDF was also seen in photos being carried by members of the community, apparently being moved elsewhere.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on March 2, shortly after the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and by expanding its troops’ presence deeper into Lebanon.
The conflict entered a temporary ceasefire on April 17.
The IDF has said that since the truce took effect, it has killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives who posed a threat to troops, and destroyed hundreds of the terror group’s sites. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has been carrying out multiple attacks per day on Israeli forces stationed in southern Lebanon amid the ceasefire, while claiming that it is responding to alleged Israeli violations of the truce.
