A 50-foot-long mural titled 'Wall of Tears' has been unveiled in Brooklyn, New York, listing the names of 18,457 children killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 19 July 2025. Created by artist Phil Buehler, the installation opened on Thursday next to Pine Box Rock Shop bar at 12 Grattan Street.
The sand-coloured vinyl mural, which is 10 feet tall and weatherproof, displays the names in the order of death based on data from the Gaza health ministry. It also includes photos and stories of individual children, drawing on reports from the Guardian and Washington Post. The first name listed is Wesam Iyad Mohammed Abu Fsaife, a 14-year-old boy, and the last is Sabah Omar Saad al-Masri, an eight-year-old girl.
Buehler, 69, said the mural aims to make the scale of the tragedy tangible. 'If you approach from a distance, it looks like almost an abstract painting... Then you'll see they're names of the children killed in Gaza since 7 October and there are thousands of them stretching down the block.' He added that seeing the faces of children full of joy and hope is particularly moving, and hopes it will encourage people to share the mural on social media.
Buehler has previously created large-scale political murals, including 'Wall of Lies' listing Donald Trump's falsehoods and 'Empty Beds' highlighting Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. He worked on this project with Radio Free Brooklyn. The data is current only until July 2025, as that was the most recent update from Gaza health authorities; hundreds more children have died since, even after a ceasefire in October.
The opening coincided with the second anniversary of the death of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old killed after an Israeli tank targeted her family's car. The Palestine Red Crescent Society released audio of her final hours, which features in the Oscar-nominated film 'The Voice of Hind Rajab'. Buehler described the film as 'incredibly gut-wrenching' and said Hind has become 'the image of the tragedy'.
