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Good Thursday afternoon. Israel says the top leader of Hamas Yahya Sinwar has been killed in Gaza, the presidential election is just 19 days away, and we’re learning new details about the tragic death of One Direction star Liam Payne.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar killed in Gaza, Israel confirms

Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas and the alleged mastermind behind the Oct. 7 terror attack, was killed in Gaza by Israeli forces, the country has confirmed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this afternoon that Israel has “settled its account” with Sinwar but the “war is not yet ended.” Hamas has not confirmed Sinwar’s death.

Sinwar’s elimination “creates an opportunity for the immediate release of the hostages and a potential change that could lead to a new reality in Gaza—without Hamas and without Iranian control,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said. 

The Israel Defense Forces had said earlier that it was looking into the possibility Sinwar was among three militants killed during operations in Gaza.

A U.S. official says the Israelis shared DNA testing that confirmed Sinwar’s death.

Harris campaigns in Wisconsin, Trump to speak at Al Smith dinner

Vice President Kamala Harris is blitzing across battleground Wisconsin today, while former President Donald Trump is set to speak tonight at a charity benefit in New York, with just 19 days left until Election Day.

Harris has appearances scheduled in Milwaukee, La Crosse and Green Bay, a day after her contentious interview with Fox News, in which she was pressed on border security, the economy, and what sets her apart from President Joe Biden.

This evening, Trump is scheduled to speak at the Al Smith dinner in New York, a benefit for Catholic charities which traditionally brings both presidential candidates together to roast each other.

Harris, however, is the first presidential candidate in decades who will not attend the dinner, though she has recorded a video message that will play at the event.

Also today, early in-person voting began in North Carolina, but there are concerns the devastation from Hurricane Helene could impact turnout in that battleground state.

Independent panel calls for Secret Service overhaul after Trump rally shooting

An independent, bipartisan panel has recommended the Secret Service bring in new, outside leadership after identifying “numerous mistakes” leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The panel's review, ordered by President Biden, warned the agency requires “fundamental reform,” and without it, “another Butler can and will happen again.”

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned 10 days after the rally shooting. In an NBC News Exclusive interview, the agency’s acting director Ronald Rowe responded to the panel’s review.

“What I'm focused on right now is making sure that I'm advocating for the men and women of the Secret Service that are out there doing the mission,” Rowe said.

One Direction singer Liam Payne’s preliminary cause of death revealed

Former One Direction star Liam Payne died from “polytrauma” and “internal and external bleeding” after falling from his third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentinian authorities said today.

Before Payne’s fatal fall, the hotel had called 911 and said he was intoxicated and behaving in a destructive manner, according to a transcript of the call.

“We have a guest who is overindulged in drugs and alcohol and ... Well, when he is conscious he breaks, he is breaking the whole room. Well, we need you to send someone, please,” the caller from the Casa Sur Palermo hotel said.

“The guest is in a room that has a balcony and, well, we are a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” the caller added, according to audio obtained via local media by Telemundo.

What else we're watching:

Texas is set to carry out the nation’s first execution based on the now controversial diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome.” Robert Roberson, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection this evening, has maintained his innocence in the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2002.

U.S. B-2 bombers and other aircraft struck five underground Houthi weapons storage locations in Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is out with its Winter Outlook forecast.

Weight loss drugs can also help patients struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, a new study finds.

Mitzi Gaynor, the actress and dancer who starred in “South Pacific,” has died at 93, her managers have confirmed.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.

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