Clip of Israeli soldiers destroying Lebanon church is AI-generated
- Published on June 11, 2026 at 11:00
- 3 min read
- By Rabih YOUNES, AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation Dene-Hern CHEN, AFP Australia
Weeks after an Israeli soldier was caught on camera destroying a Jesus statue in Lebanon, a video surfaced on social media of two soldiers appearing to brag about vandalising a church in the southern town of Debl. But local Lebanese authorities told AFP the town does not have a church resembling the one in the circulating video, and an analysis of the footage found signs it was AI-generated.
"Israeli occupation soldiers brag about vandalizing a Christian church in Lebanon," says the caption of a Facebook video shared by a Melbourne-based user on June 3, 2026.
The video appears to show two soldiers standing in a church before the scene cuts to footage of them surrounded by debris and kicking broken pieces of furniture while laughing.
The footage of the soldiers kicking furniture was also shared in similar Instagram and X posts, with some users claiming the church was in the town of Debl -- also spelled Debel -- in southern Lebanon.
The video, which was widely shared in the Middle East, also reached New Zealand.
It spread in the wake of a photo that circulated in April of an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross (archived link).
The sculpture was located in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel, the local municipality told AFP, but officials could not say whether it had been damaged.
The military said it had determined after an investigation that the image circulating on social media was genuine and showed an Israeli soldier operating in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "stunned and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in southern Lebanon", and vowed "harsh action" (archived link).
The video depicting two soldiers vandalising a church in Lebanon, however, is AI-generated.
Visual inconsistencies
A closer look at the video reveals various visual inconsistencies, the most prominent being that the church's wall art and architectural features seen in the "before" and "after" footage are different.
At the 10-second mark, the leg of one of the soldiers also disappears for a split second as he kicks out.
According to AFP's Hebrew-speaking journalists, the soldiers' voices sound strange and their words are incoherent.
No such church in Debl
Debl's mayor Akl Nadaf told AFP by phone on June 3 that no such church existed in the town.
Boutros al-Ra'i, the town's mukhtar -- or administrative head -- told AFP on June 3 that Debl has two churches known to the residents, an ancient one and a new one. He also provided AFP with photos of the two churches for comparison.
"Neither of their designs match what appears in the circulated video," he said.
Additionally, Hany Kahwagi-Janho, a professor of architecture and archaeology at Lebanon's Holy Spirit University of Kaslik told AFP on June 5 that the video is a "strange mix" of Byzantine and Catholic elements, which he said are not typically found together in churches (archived link).
He added: "I know the churches in the town of Debl and they don't resemble the one in the video."
AFP has debunked other claims related to Israel that make use of AI-generated content.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
