KILL ZONE: Israel says it killed Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas in Gaza who was the architect of the October 7^th massacre a year ago. Sinwar died in a firefight and drone strike, the military says.

 The IDF says they confirmed the kill through DNA. Israel had Sinwar’s fingerprints, medical, and dental records from his many years in Israeli prisons. 

  Israel said its soldiers encountered several militants during a routine patrol that erupted into a firefight in the southern Gaza strip. Backed up by drones, they destroyed part of a building where militants took cover, and later discovered a body that looked like Sinwar. 

  Video shows the man believed to be Sinwar sitting in a dusty stuffed lounge chair and possibly injured then throwing a piece of wood at a hovering drone before the final strike. After searching for the man for more than a year, the Israelis had not expected to encounter Sinwar out of hiding.

  Killing Sinwar has been one of the Israeli government’s primary goals. Whether his death will make any difference in ending the Gaza war or easing negotiations remains to be seen. Israel has already killed dozens of militant leaders in Gaza, Lebanon, and even Iran without weakening the resolve of the survivors.

  With peace negotiations deadlocked and hostages still held by Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to let the militants “leave and live” if they give up their weapons and return the captives.

  President Biden called the death of Sinwar “a moment of justice” and said he hoped it would present “an opportunity to seek a path to peace — a better future in Gaza without Hamas.” 

  For now, the war drags on. An Israeli strike on a school building in northern Gaza killed at least 24 people, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense service. Israel’s military said dozens of militants leaders were meeting there at the time.

  Life in Gaza remains perilous for residents. A UN-backed food agency about 133,000 people face a catastrophic lack of food, and many Gazan children under 5 are acutely malnourished. The Biden administration has warned Israel that the United States could cut off military assistance if more humanitarian aid is not allowed into northern Gaza. 

THE WAR ROOM: The US Air Force used B-2 stealth bombers to hit five underground weapons storage sites used by Houthi militants in Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” Austin said in the statement.

  The rarely-used B-2s usually fly out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, relying on aerial refueling to get to targets halfway around the world.

SHAKEN NOT EXECUTED: A Texasjudge granted a temporary delay just 90 minutes before the scheduled execution of a 57-year-old man convicted of killing his daughter in a case of what’s known as “shaken baby syndrome.” Robert Roberson III was spared after a bipartisan coalition of state House members voted to subpoena him to testify about his case. 

  Roberson’s lawyers said he was convicted of a crime that never occurred and that two-year-old Nikki died of a severe case of viral pneumonia. At the time in 2002 doctors were taught that brain swelling and bleeding on the brain and behind the eyes were proof of shaken baby syndrome.  Roberson was suspected because he showed no emotion, but 16 years later he was diagnosed with autism.

  The detective who testified against Roberson has since testified that detectives were too quick accepted the diagnosis of shaken baby and has become one of the most outspoken supporters for of Roberson’s claim of innocence.

THE SHOOTING GALLERY: A Georgia grand jury handed up indictments against a 14-year-old boy accused of shooting and killing two students and two teachers at his high school and his father who gave his son the rifle used in the murders. The shooting occurred on September 4th at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

  Colt Gray faces 55 counts, including malice and felony murder, as well as involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. His father Colin, 54, was indicted on 29 counts including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children.

  The charges against the father are part of an emerging legal strategy to hold parents responsible in some cases in which their child commits the mass shooting.

THE OBIT PAGE: Mitzi Gaynor, the actress, singer, and dancer who played the female lead Nellie Forbush in the Hollywood version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific,” died yesterday at home in Los Angeles. She was 93.

  “South Pacific” on film was a huge hit, but Gaynor made only three more movies as musicals went out of style and she turned to the Las Vegas stage and television.

  Her most notable and least memorable television performance came on “The Ed Sullivan Show” during which she sang “It’s Too Darn Hot” and other songs in 1964 on the night of The Beatles second appearance on the show. She said Paul McCartney asked for her autograph.

THE SPIN RACK: The Kentucky lawsuit against TikTok claims that the company engaged in schemes to influence Sen. Mitch McConnell to vote on legislation to favor the social media app. Although that’s not illegal, the lawsuit says it was part of TikTok’s efforts to fight safety regulations. — Donald Trump at last night’s Al Smith fundraising dinner said he knew he was expected to tell self-deprecating jokes but said, “Nope, I’ve got nothing.”

BELOW THE FOLD: A federal judge in the Northern District of Florida granted a temporary restraining order against Florida’s surgeon general after the state health department threatened to bring criminal charges against broadcasters airing an ad advocating abortion rights. Judge Mark Walker said, “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”

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