What does it mean to see 18,457 names, each one belonging to a child whose life was cut short? The Wall of Tears, a monumental artwork by Phil Buehler, gives a name to every child killed in Gaza between October 2023 and July 2025, transforming an overwhelming statistic into a deeply human tribute.
As of 11 October 2026, 21,976 children had been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to figures released by the Gaza Government Media Office.
Statistics on this scale can obscure the human suffering. Naming the children killed restores their identity.
Phil Buehler’s heartbreaking artwork brings the names and stories of children who have been killed to public attention. It was first displayed in Brooklyn, New York, in January this year and is on loan from Perth Doctors Medical Aid for Palestine.
The exhibition is presented by Amnesty International Australia and Pitt Street Uniting Church.
Phil Buehler said that he hopes people will “see the faces, read the stories of some of the few dozen I’ve scattered throughout … that’s the part that gets me when I look at it. You see their faces full of joy and hope, snapshots from graduations and birthday parties and family gatherings and knowing that these kids’ lives were just cut short … I hope that might lead people to think about how they might help, even if it’s just, take a photo of the mural and pass it along on their social media or to their friends.”
Rev Charissa Suli, National President of the Uniting Church in Australia, said at Easter 2025:
“To remain silent about the disproportionate suffering and long-standing oppression faced by Palestinians would be to deny the truth of what we see and can never give us a just peace.
“For more than seven decades, Palestinians have lived under the weight of occupation. On 7 October 2023, a horrific attack by Hamas militants in Israel claimed over 1,100 lives and saw 250 people taken hostage. Following this terrible violence, Israel unleashed a ferocious retaliation and the Palestinian people have endured merciless bombardment. Homes, hospitals, sacred places of worship, and centres of learning lie in ruins. Nearly two million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced. Medical workers, journalists, and humanitarian servants have been targeted and killed. Human rights abuses occur daily.
“Palestinian lives – many of them women and children – have been stolen with unspeakable cruelty. For those who live, there is nowhere safe to go. We believe unequivocally that this desecration of human life is an outrage, a grievous wound in the heart of God.”
Speakers at the exhibition launch on 9 October included Chris Sidoti, Australia’s first Human Rights Commissioner and member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Dr Saira Hussain, a consultant anaesthetist who has completed four volunteer medical missions to Gaza; and Suzan Wahhab, President of Palestinian Christians in Australia.
In September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. The Commission stated: “The international community as a whole must uphold their international legal obligations and call for an end to hostilities, for Israel to end its occupation.
The Wall of Tears is on display at Pitt Street Uniting Church, 264 Pitt St, until the end of October 2026 at the following days and times. Entry is free.
- Thursday 22 October: 10am–7pm
- Friday 23 October: 10am–2pm
- Saturday 24 October: 12pm–4pm
- Sunday 25 October: 12pm–4pm
- Monday 26 October: 10am–2pm
- Tuesday 27 October: 10am–2pm
- Wednesday 28 October: 10am–2pm
Last day: Wednesday 28 October 2026
