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in arizona, one of the most when battleground states. we are speaking to voters as they decide between donald trump and kamala harris. ♪ >> welcome to "world news america." israel said its forces have killed hamas leader yahya sinwar in southern gaza. the israeli government said dna testing confirmed sinwar was one of three people killed during a ground operation. the israel defense force added soldiers had been on sinwar's trail for months. officials hold sinwar responsible for organizing and directing the october 7 attacks last year that killed more than 1200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken. sinwar rose to prominence within

hamas after he was released during a prisoner swap in 2011. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said people suffered a blow as a result of sinwar's death. >> this is a milestone in terms of taking down the people rule of hamas. hamas will no longer rule in gaza. it is the beginning of the day after for hamas. this is the opportunity for the residents of gaza to liberate yourselves from tyranny. >> your leaders are running away and they will be taken down. if you take down your weapons and return our hostages we will allow you to come out and live. let me also say if you hurt our hostages, you will be taken down. we will settle the score. >> joe biden released a statement in support of israel and called sinwar's death a

relief. speaking to people in germany, he said sinwar's death made him feel more hopeful about the prospect of a cease-fire. gaza's hamas run civil defense agency said at least 22 people are dead and dozens more injured in an israeli strike on a building. the school was sheltering displaced families. the israeli military said the site was an operational meeting .4 hamas. it name 12 men. dozens of operatives in the building at the time. hamas denies those claims. more than 50,000 people fled in response to hostilities. you an official said there are thousands trapped in northern gaza in desperate conditions. a u.n. backed assessment said some 345,000 gazans faced catastrophic levels of hunger after aid deliveries fell.

deliveries resumed this week after the biden administration threatened to withhold military assistance from israel. hezbollah and israeli troops clashed on lebanon's border. . they said they eliminated a hezbollah battalion commander while hezbollah said it hit four israeli tanks. video showed an israeli flag flying over a damaged village. let's talk about the developments in the middle east with the former middle east advisor of the state department. great to have you back. talk to us about the significance of yahya sinwar being killed. >> thank you for having me. he was the preeminent palestinian decision-maker since october 7, responsible for the october 7 terror surge and inflicting a degree of pain and

cruelty on israeli civilians and exposing his own population to israel's relentless prosecution of hamas in a effortn to destroy it as a military organization. i cannot say i am at all sorry he is gone. at the same time we have to get a grip and be extremely sober. can the death of one man fundamentally alter a multifaceted, multi-front conflict? it is raging on at least three fronts. my answer here is, perhaps. but i think we have to be pretty engaged -- be engaged in some pretty sober and cruel analysis and able to figure out what impact this will have. hamas' leadership and most of its senior leadership has been killed before the israelis got

to sinwar. i am not persuaded at all. hamas will survive as an insurgency. i would argue at the moment hamas will be in a waiting position. they will not want to demonstrate vulnerability. >> can i ask you what that waiting position looks like? we heard benjamin netanyahu saying this is the beginning of the end to hamas but clearly saying the war is not over. >> this is creating unrealistic goals. for the prime minister, this is a huge win. a strategic leader might look at this as a way to begin to de-escalate the conflict. i think the prime minister's statements suggest the israelis will double down. it is not enough to get sinwar. we have to deradicalize- the gaza strip.

they are facing a hamas resurgence in trying to create a situation where hundreds of thousands of gazans in gaza city will be forced to flee southward so they can lay siege to gaza city to operate against hamas. i think you made my point. there are two primary decision-makers for what we witnessed over the course of the last year. yahya sinwar, he is gone. hamas as an organization -- israelis killed another leader but hezbollah survived. does the prime minister look at this as an opportunity -- >> can i jump in -- >> how to deal with gaza in a much more realistic fashion. >> you said opportunity and that is what we heard in the u.s. we heard from president biden saying this was an opportunity to push forward cease-fire discussions. antony blinken will go to the middle east in a few days' time

to try to push that forward. >> i am sure the president would love to leave as a legacy a cease-fire in gaza and the return of all the hostages. i am not arguing against the possibility that this is an opening. i just don't think the basic fundamentals of this conflict have changed, either on the part of hamas or on the part of benjamin netanyahu. remember, we have an active front in the north. the strategic shoe is yet to drop. the israelis will respond to the october 1 ballistic missile barrage. if the iranians respond to that, in a way that was hairier than october 1, you might end up with an escalating situation there. will the death of one man who clearly deserved to die, is it

going to fundamentally alter the fundamentals and the trajectories of the three conflicts we are now witnessing? i think the answer is maybe but there is simply no indication that we will be any closer to stabilizing any of them anytime soon. >> aaron david miller. always good to get your perspective. thank you so much. the united nations on thursday accused the parties involved in sudan's civil war of using starvation tactics against civilians. this week marks 18 months since the start of the conflict between the sudanese military and the paramilitary support forces erupted, leading to the world's worst humanitarian crisis. in the first half of october, 40,000 people fled their homes leaving 8 million people internally displaced. 97% of those people face severe

levels of hunger. the u.s. announced last month a $424 million aid package for sudan and neighboring countries. i asked the u.s. special envoy for sudan about the u.n.'s accusations that the parties are using starvation as a weapon of war. >> sadly we agree completely on the fact that both warring parties are turning food and starvation into a weapon of war. close to 20 million people facing acute hunger and starvation. we have been able to get some key routes open to humanitarian aid. we are getting three or four trucks a day through. one place with over 500,000 starving would need 13 trucks a day to get to full nutrition and we are talking about a country of 50 million people. we need the army and the government to stop playing games

with bureaucracy and delays. we need to be quadrupling the amount of aid moving through and need to do it urgently. >> what type of aid is most urgently needed? food? medical supplies? >> food, medicine. we are seeing colorado begin to spread. it is a waterborne disease -- we are beginning to see cholera spread. the rsf is preventing people from having access to wells or t he nile to make them suffer more. winded a massive expansion to the access of that food, medicine, clean drinking water, shelter. we are talking about people living right on the edge. >> what groups are saying is what is needed more than anything is an end to hostilities. there have been multiple calls

for both parties to do so. why is that not happening? >> we want to see an end the war but even war is not an excuse to. that lets food and medicine get to mostly women and children facing acute hunger. we could be flying to areas. we had the hack denying permission for flights after initially saying areas could see that kind of access. every day we get another bureaucratic delay is people in areas starving and not getting food access. war is not an excuse. at the same time it is far past time for the army and rsf to sit down and reach local and national cease-fires and stop the shelling and bombing taking

so many lives. >> these calls for a cease-fire have been coming for months. why is there no progress on this front? >> unfortunately it comes down to a lack of leadership. we have a need for the president to come to the table and support the peace process. we have seen a continued calculation -- continued escalation. this was a famine created by men, not by a tsunami or a disease or a horrible drought. this was a human-created famine and a human-chosen war ended good end the moment those humans choose to move beyond that. we need to see the restoration of a dream of a democratic government. the sudanese people laid out in 2019. >> one more question before we let you go. this has been called the

forgotten war, the forgotten crisis. if there is not an end to hostilities and much more aid rushed in quickly, what do you fear we will see on the ground? >> we are already facing the horrors people have predicted but i could get worse. it is a country of 50 million people with a diversity of populations. we could see more neighbors get pulled into the conflict. we could see the kind of failed state dynamics that led to islamic extremists having such a presence. it is an area that is a breadbasket for the sudanese people in the region. we could see prolonged famine. we have seen the sudanese create emergency response routes that have found a way with cash apps and local kitchens saving people in the communities. other efforts showing

innovation, courage and resilience of the emergency response rooms nominated for a nobel peace prize. we need to match that courage and innovation of the sudanese people and not let the horrors be an excuse for paralysis. this is a time for action from governments and individuals to stand with the sudanese people. >> to the u.s. election now. early in person voting is underway in north carolina, a critical swing state. one of a handful of states expected to decide the winner in november's election. recovery efforts are still underway in the aftermath of hurricane helene. it wreak havoc in many parts of the state killing nearly 100 people. tim walz is in north carolina alongside former president bill clinton to drum up support for the harris-walz ticket. harris is in wisconsin and donald trump is attending a

dinner in new york city. arizona is another hotly contested swing state. caitriona perry is in tucson. tell us what you have been finding where you are. caitriona: as you say, this is one of the seven battleground states that kamala harris and donald trump are fighting so intensely over it. the polls habit at a virtual dead heat. that is how it is between voters we spoke to. arizona is the only battleground state on the border with mexico and the only battleground state in which the voters will have a question around abortion on the balance. they are voting to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution and extend the limit from 15 weeks to 22 weeks. they are also voting on issues around election integrity. joe biden won here in 2020 by

10,000 votes out of 3.2 million. a really narrow margin. it seems to be that way again. everyone you speak to has a view and many have made up their mind. let's have a chat with some voters in tucson. thank to you -- thank you to you both for joining us. you will be voting in just a couple of weeks' time or already because you can do early voting. what goes through your mind when you are deciding who to vote for? >> they both are in certain ways. the main thing, we are struggling over here and this summer we felt that the most, the economy. whatever leads toward the

economy the most. that would probably be the direction i would be heading toward. caitriona: have you made up your mind yet? >> i have not made up my mind. caitriona: what about yourself? >> the same. my issue is with the restaurant. we felt it this year, our economy and our sales have gone lower than any other year. i have not made up my mind. either party that fights for the american dream, where families used to enjoy meals, vacations, send their kids off to college, financially. that is what counts for us. caitriona: what about your customers? you have had a few republican candidates come through your restaurant. >> we welcome any party, if the democratic party wants to come, republicans, it is profit for us

and we love to serve everyone. we have had a couple candidates, we had kari lake come for lunch. caitriona: a senate candidate. >> we had a congressman from new york come by, as well. we support everybody. caitriona: we hear from the campaigns about how eager they are to get latino voters and no group -- everyone votes in their own way. is there anything that is about kamala harris or donald trump that appeals to latino voters? >> both parties has made good statements for latinos. kamala is saying she has worked hard all of her life. president trump also said he wants to do the tips things for waitors.

i hope whichever party wins makes it come true. caitriona: we are very near the quarter where week -- we are near the border and we have had people talk to us about immigration. what is your view? what needs to be done? >> ask her. i cannot do this right now. [laughter] caitriona: he has to go serve customers. >> what was the question? caitriona: around immigration, we have had a lot of folks talk about that as an issue for them. >> there are a lot of issues with immigration. it has always been. there are always issues with immigration. like i said, either party has good things that they promise. when they win, whoever wins, i

hope they make it come true for immigrants, families, everyone. caitriona: thank you so much for speaking to us. we have been here for the day and we have earned quite a range of views. some people are firm and many have cast their vote but many are undecided. 20 days to go. >> for more updates on the upcoming u.s. presidential election, follow us on our website, bbc.com. i want to return now to our top story. israel signet has killed hamas' leader, yahya sinwar. we can bring in our international editor. jeremy, very good to see you. this is such a momentous development in this now more than year long work. how have the israelis been reacting to the news? >> some of them have been

dancing in the streets and waving flags. i think they are relieved and they are happy. mr. netanyahu, the prime minister, reminded them the war goes on. israelis needed this. they needed a victory in gaza. even after a year and after all the destruction and killing so many palestinians, they still had not gotten there hostages out. they had not destroyed hamas. they still have not achieved those two points. but now they have killed yahya sinwar. i think for them this is a big, big plus on that side of the equation. >> interesting what you said about the prime minister's words. we heard joe biden say he hopes the war will end soon. that seems to not be in line from what we are hearing from israel. >> it is highly unlikely.

first of all, as i say, the hostages and hamas are still operational. they will get a new leader. many israelis believe mr. netanyahu will prolong the war for his own political reasons. hostage families gathering in tel aviv, well they are delighted about what is happening and hoping that somehow there will be an opening for more negotiation and a deal to get their people out of gaza, the fact is that no negotiations are going on at the moment. while the israelis and the americans have said sinwar was the blockage to an agreement, if you speak to, say, others involved in negotiations they would say netanyahu was a blockage to the agreement. there is a lot still to resolve. >> before we let you go, do we

know what this means to hamas' capabilities? what kind of blow this deals to hamas? >> it is a serious blow. they have lost their important leader. may have had many leaders assassinated in the past and they have appointed new ones and come back from it. the extraordinary video from a drowned of the israeli army released, palestinians will look at that and see sinwar, who was fighting until the very end, and they will think of him as even more of a hero than they thought of him when he inflicted israel 's biggest defeat in the history of the israeli state. >> our international editor, thank you for the analysis. one more item before we go. tributes continue to pour in after the death of liam payne, former member of the boy band one direction. in a joint statement released,

harry styles, lewis tomlinson, niall horan and zayn malik said they were devastated. liam payne fell from a hotel balcony wednesday. police were called to the hotel in buenos aires after receiving reports of an aggressive man who might have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol. he roast of global started with one direction, selling 70 million records worldwide. that is our program. you can find more on our website, bbc.com/news. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “news hour” tonight, the leader of hamas and architect of the october 7 attacks is killed the ramifications for the war in gaza. amna: how abortion measures on the ballot in the critical swing states of nevada and arizona could tip the balance in the presidential race.