Gaza death toll rises to 74,480, with 175,539 injured since October 2023

GAZA — The death toll from Israel's military campaign in Gaza has risen to 74,480, with 175,539 people injured since 7 October 2023, the Indonesian news agency Antara reported on Wednesday, 21 October 2026.

Antara did not name the body that compiled the totals. Its report attributes the latest daily figures to unnamed medical sources. This article relies only on that report, and none of the figures has been independently verified.

Latest figures

According to Antara, medical sources said hospitals in the Gaza Strip received five bodies in the previous 24 hours. Four of those were newly recorded deaths. The same sources said 22 injured people were also brought to hospitals over that period.

Antara's report does not say where or how those people were killed or hurt. It does not say whether the four newly recorded deaths resulted from recent incidents or were added to the count after earlier events.

Casualties since the ceasefire

The report also gives a separate tally for the period since a ceasefire took effect on 11 October. Antara, citing the same medical sources, said 1,522 people have been killed in that period. It said 5,421 have been injured.

Antara added that 839 bodies have also been recovered. The report does not explain whether the recovered bodies are included in the 1,522 figure or counted separately. It does not say where the bodies were found or when.

The figures are as Antara reported them. The agency did not provide a breakdown by age, gender or location. It also did not say how deaths recorded after the ceasefire are verified.

People still trapped

Antara said the medical source added that some victims remain trapped under rubble or lie in the streets. According to the report, ambulance and rescue teams have not been able to reach them. The agency gave no estimate of how many people are affected and did not say where they are.

Photograph from Nuseirat

A photograph published with the report, credited to AFP photographer Eyad Baba, was taken on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. According to its caption, Palestinian children in a displacement camp filled water containers at a water distribution point in Nuseirat, in central Gaza.

The caption said Israeli forces continued attacks on Palestinians in Gaza that day. It said two Palestinians were reported killed. The caption does not identify the source of that report or give details of the incidents.

What remains unconfirmed

Several points in the report cannot be established from Antara's text alone.

• The report does not name the authority that produced the cumulative toll of 74,480 dead and 175,539 injured.
• It does not identify the medical sources who gave the 24-hour and post-ceasefire figures.
• It does not describe the circumstances of the deaths recorded since the ceasefire began.
• It carries no response from the Israeli military or government to the figures.
• It does not say how many of the dead are civilians or combatants.

Antara's own wording describes the Israeli campaign as a "war of annihilation" waged by "occupation forces". That is the agency's characterisation and is not an independently established finding. The report does not include a statement from the Israeli side on the use of those terms or on the casualty counts.

Background

The count Antara cites begins on 7 October 2023, which it uses as the starting point for the war in Gaza. By the agency's account, the campaign has killed 74,480 people and injured 175,539 over that period.

The report says a ceasefire was put in place on 11 October. It does not say who negotiated the arrangement, what its terms are or whether it is still formally in effect. It also does not give the year of the ceasefire. Even so, Antara's figures indicate that people have continued to be killed and injured in the Strip since it began. The report gives no information on who is responsible for those casualties.

Antara's page also carried a link to a separate report with the headline that Amnesty International urged sanctions against Israeli officials over human rights violations. The text of that report was not part of the material provided, and this article makes no claims about its contents.

Antara's report was translated by Asri Mayang Sari and edited by Bayu Prasetyo, according to its credit line. The agency published it on 21 October 2026.

Zenga News has not independently confirmed the casualty figures. They are reported here as Antara's account of what medical sources said. Readers following events in Gaza should treat them as provisional, since the agency did not name its sources or describe how the counts were gathered.