At the end, the fearsome militant leader who had helped unleash a vicious war seemed barely a threat.

在最后的时刻，这名曾帮助引发一场残酷战争、令人生畏的武装分子领导人看来几乎不是威胁。

In video captured by an Israeli drone, a man sat alone, badly wounded and caked in dust amid the ruins of a building in the Gaza Strip, wrapped in a kaffiyeh and staring directly into the camera. The man, Israeli officials say, was Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas.

以色列无人机拍摄的视频中，一名身负重伤、满身尘土的男子独自坐在加沙地带一栋建筑的废墟里，头上裹着方头巾，眼睛直视镜头。以色列官员说，这名男子是哈马斯领导人叶海亚·辛瓦尔。

The stare-down lasted some 20 seconds, then the man limply but defiantly hurled a broken piece of wood toward the drone. Not long afterward, officials say, an Israeli soldier shot him in the head, and a tank shell flattened part of the building.

凝视了镜头大约20秒后，这名已无力气的男子挑衅地将一根木棍扔向无人机。官员们说，没过多久，一名以色列士兵打中了他的头部，坦克发射的一枚炮弹将部分建筑炸平。

So ended the long hunt for one of the world’s most wanted men. It began hours after the brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that Mr. Sinwar helped orchestrate, and concluded amid the destruction of a Rafah neighborhood resembling so many parts of Gaza, leveled by the Israeli military in the year since.

对这名全球头号通缉犯的长时间追捕行动就此告终。这项行动始于2023年10月7日辛瓦尔帮助策划的对以色列残暴袭击数小时后，行动结束在被摧毁的拉法社区废墟中，该社区与加沙许多地方相似，都已被以色列军队一年来的轰炸夷为平地。

The manhunt involved Israeli commandos and spies, as well as a special unit established inside the headquarters of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, and at the Central Intelligence Agency. It used a sophisticated electronic surveillance dragnet and ground-penetrating radar provided by the United States.

参与搜捕行动的有以色列突击队和间谍，还有以色列国内情报机构辛贝特总部和美国中央情报局设立的专案组。行动使用了先进的电子监听拉网式搜捕和美国提供的探地雷达。

New details about Mr. Sinwar’s movements over the past year have emerged since his death, including the fact that Israeli intelligence officers had seen mounting evidence since August that Mr. Sinwar, or possibly other top Hamas leaders, might be in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood.

自从辛瓦尔死亡以来，有关他过去一年行踪的新细节已浮出水面，其中包括以色列情报人员自今年8月以来已看到越来越多的证据表明，辛瓦尔或其他哈马斯高层领导人也许就在拉法的特拉尔苏丹社区。

They observed people there moving about with their faces covered, sometimes apparently surrounded by guards, suggesting that they were senior Hamas officials or hostages. And in September, they found Mr. Sinwar’s DNA in urine collected from a tunnel.

他们观察到那里有蒙着脸的人走来走去，有时身边似乎围着警卫，暗示这些人是哈马斯的高级官员或人质。今年9月，他们在从一条地道中采集的尿样中发现了辛瓦尔的DNA。

辛瓦尔去年在加沙城发表讲话。

In the end, Mr. Sinwar was discovered and killed in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood somewhat by happenstance, by a group of troops on a routine patrol. But Israeli forces had spent weeks scouring the neighborhood based on the intelligence that senior Hamas officials were hiding there, possibly with Israeli hostages.

最终，一队以色列士兵在例行巡逻时，在拉法的特拉尔苏丹住宅区偶然发现了辛瓦尔，并将其击毙。但在那之前，以色列军队曾花了数周时间搜查该住宅区，因为情报表明哈马斯高级官员藏在那里，可能还带着以色列人质。

Mr. Sinwar died above ground, just a few hundred meters from a tunnel complex where he had been hiding this summer, according to Israeli officials, and where six Israeli hostages were killed in late August.

据以色列官员说，辛瓦尔是在距离今年夏天藏身的地道综合体仅几百米远的地面上死亡的。今年8月底，六名以色列人质曾在那片地道中被杀。

This account of the hunt for Mr. Sinwar, and his eventual killing on Wednesday, is based on interviews with Israeli and American government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence operations, as well as classified Israeli government documents obtained by The Times.

基于对以色列和美国政府官员（由于讨论的是敏感的情报行动，他们要求不具名）的采访，以及《纽约时报》获得的以色列政府机密文件，本文记述了追捕辛瓦尔以及他上周三最终被击毙的过程。

Mr. Sinwar had been a spectral presence since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks. There had been only glimpses of him over the past year, and he is believed to have spent most of his time hidden underground.

自去年10月7日哈马斯发动了对以色利的袭击以来，辛瓦尔一直是一个幽灵般的存在。过去一年里，外界对他只有偶尔的一瞥，据信他大部分时间都躲藏在地下。

Yet he commanded Hamas’s forces in an ongoing war and managed to play an active role in the negotiations over a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages.

但他仍在持续的战争中指挥着哈马斯的部队，并在停火和释放以色列人质的谈判中设法发挥了积极作用。

There had been near misses along the way. On Jan. 31, Israeli commandos raided an elaborate warren of tunnels in Khan Younis— dubbed “The Kingdom” by Israeli officials — based on the intelligence that Mr. Sinwar was hiding there. It turned out he had been but had left the bunker just days earlier.

也曾有过险遭意外的时候。今年1月31日，以色列突击队突袭了汗尤尼斯的一个复杂的地下迷宫（以色列官员称之为“王国”），因为情报显示辛瓦尔躲藏在那里。后来发现，他确实曾藏在那里，但已在几天前离开。

In addition to stacks of Israeli shekels, Mr. Sinwar left documents there that detailed years of secret meetings among Hamas leaders planning the Oct. 7 attacks, which the documents refer to as “The Big Project.”

除了一大堆以色列谢克尔外，辛瓦尔还留下了文件，详细记录了哈马斯领导人几年来为策划去年10月7日的袭击而举行的秘密会议，袭击在文件中被称为“大项目”。

The killing of Mr. Sinwar is perhaps Israel’s most significant military achievement of the war, and it raised hopes that the elimination of the Hamas chief and the decimation of the group’s leadership might bring about a deal to end the conflict and release the Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7 and still held in Gaza. Since his death, however, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Hamas have pledged to continue the battle.

击毙辛瓦尔也许是以色列在这次战争中取得的最重要的军事成就，它点燃了人们的希望，消灭哈马斯的头目和大量摧毁该组织的领导层也许能带来结束冲突的协议，让去年10月7日被劫持、目前仍关在加沙的以色列人质获释。然而，以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡和哈马斯都已在辛瓦尔死后承诺继续战斗。

以色列军方曾在今年2月公布了一段视频，军方称视频显示辛瓦尔正走在加沙的一条地道中。

In a statement issued on Friday, Hamas said that Mr. Sinwar’s death “will only increase the strength, steadfastness, and determination” of the group’s fighters “to continue on their path, and to be loyal to their blood and sacrifices.”

哈马斯在上周五发布的一份声明中称，辛瓦尔的死“只会增强（哈马斯战士）的力量、坚定性和决心”，让他们“继续走自己的路，忠于他们的鲜血和牺牲”。

Mr. Sinwar may have been hobbled and diminished in his final moments, but the Hamas statement sought to project an image of him as a defiant fighter, “advancing and not retreating, brandishing his weapon, engaging and confronting the occupation army at the forefront of the ranks.”

虽然辛瓦尔在生命的最后时刻也许行动蹒跚、力不如前，但在哈马斯的声明中，他们试图塑造一个不屈不挠的战士形象，“前进而不是后退，挥舞着武器，在战斗的最前线与占领军交火对抗。”

A cold trail heats up.

行踪消失后再现。

Early this year, Israeli intelligence concluded that Mr. Sinwar had fled a bunker in the center of the city of Khan Younis in response to news reports citing Israeli officials saying he was hiding in a tunnel beneath the city. From there, he retreated to the western part of the city before finally relocating to Rafah.

今年早些时候，以色列情报部门认定，辛瓦尔已逃离了位于汗尤尼斯市中心的地下藏身处，那是他对新闻报道引用以色列官员的话说他藏在那里的地道中做出的反应。他从那里撤到了汗尤尼斯市的西部，最后搬到了拉法。

For much of the summer, Mr. Sinwar’s trail was cold. Officials said he had abandoned electronic communications, allowing him to avoid the surveillance net set up by Israeli and American intelligence agencies. He was thought to be moving between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, staying in touch with Hamas operatives using a network of human couriers, but there was precious little specific intelligence about his movements.

今年夏天的大部时间里，辛瓦尔的行踪一直不详。官员们说，他已放弃了使用电子通讯，这让他能避开以色列和美国情报机构设立的监听网。情报部门认为他往来于拉法和汗尤尼斯这两座城市之间，通过一个人工信使网络与哈马斯工作人员保持联系，但关于他行踪的具体情报非常少。

Then, in August, came mounting evidence pointing to Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood.

后来，今年8月，越来越多的证据表明，他在拉法的特拉尔苏丹社区。

On Aug. 31, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six slain hostages, five of whom Hamas had captured at a music festival on Oct. 7, in an underground tunnel complex in Tel al-Sultan. Israeli military officials said they believed that the hostages had been executed by their captors just days earlier.

8月31日，以色列军队在特拉尔苏丹的一个地道综合体中找到了六名被杀人质的尸体，其中五人是去年10月7日被哈马斯从音乐节上绑架走的。以色列军方官员说，他们认为人质是几天前被绑架他们的人处死的。

巴勒斯坦人在汗尤尼斯的一处废墟中查看，摄于去年。据信，辛瓦尔当时正在往返于拉法和汗尤尼斯这两座城市之间。

Weeks later, while investigating the same tunnel complex, Israeli forces confirmed through a DNA test of a urine sample that Mr. Sinwar — whose genetic and other information they had from his decades in Israeli prisons — had been hiding there at some point. But they never pinpointed his whereabouts, and there was discussion among Israeli intelligence officials that the Hamas leader might actually be dead.

几周后，在调查同一个地道综合体时，以色列军队通过检测一份尿样的DNA证实，辛瓦尔曾在某个时候躲在那里，但他们未能确定他的下落。以色列有辛瓦尔的基因和其他信息，因为他曾在以色列监狱里服刑数十年。以色列情报官员曾讨论过这名哈马斯领导人已经死亡的可能性。

A tightening dragnet and a bit of luck.

越来越严密的搜捕行动，加上一点运气。

The intelligence collection around Tel al-Sultan in recent weeks had prompted Israeli forces to increase patrols in the neighborhood, and one Israeli military official said that operations in the area were attempts by the military to gather clues, rather than raids guided by precise intelligence.

最近几周在特拉尔苏丹周围收集到的情报促使以色列军队加强了在该地区的巡逻。一名以色列军方官员曾表示，在该地区的行动是军方试图收集线索，而不是在精确情报的指导下进行突袭。

In this way, Wednesday’s killing of Mr. Sinwar was, for the Israelis, a stroke of luck.

从这点来看，上周三将辛瓦尔击毙对以色列人来说是意外的好运。

That morning, soldiers from an Israeli training brigade operating in Tel al-Sultan spotted three men moving from house to house, one of them trailing the other two. They had no idea one of the men was Mr. Sinwar.

那天早上，在特拉尔苏丹巡逻的一个以色列训练旅的士兵看到三名男子从一个房子向另一个房子移动，其中一名男子尾随在另外两人之后。士兵们对其中一名男子是辛瓦尔毫无所知。

“Yahya Sinwar hid in an area that our forces had surrounded for a long time,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said on Thursday night. “We did not know he was there, but we continued to operate decisively.”

“叶海亚·辛瓦尔躲藏在我们的军队包围了好久的地区，”以色列军方发言人、海军少将丹尼尔·哈加里上周四晚说。“虽然我们不知道他在那里，但我们继续果断行动。”

It is unclear what brought Mr. Sinwar above ground, although Israeli officials have said that all Hamas operatives in the tunnels — even the group’s leaders — must occasionally escape the dark, claustrophobic conditions and breathe fresh air. Israeli officials said that a July airstrike that killed Mohammed Deif, the shadowy chief of Hamas’s military wing, was launched during one such occasion when Mr. Deif came to the surface.

目前尚不清楚是什么原因让辛瓦尔出现在地面上，尽管以色列官员说，所有地道中的哈马斯成员——甚至是该组织的领导人——都必须偶尔逃离黑暗、幽闭的环境，呼吸新鲜空气。以色列官员说，今年7月杀死了哈马斯军事部门神秘莫测的头子穆罕默德·迪夫的空袭就是在迪夫出现在地面上时发动的。

In recent weeks, Israeli troops had stepped up ambushes and efforts to clear the many tunnels around Rafah. The army even pumped some of them full of thick nontoxic gas in an attempt to smoke out fighters when they assessed no hostages were in those parts of the tunnels, according to two Israeli military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press about sensitive military tactics.

最近几周，以色列军队已加强了对拉法周围的众多地道进行伏击和清理的力度。据两名以色列军方官员说，军队对地道进行了没有人质的评估后，他们甚至向其中一些地道注入了浓浓的无毒气体，试图将哈马斯战士驱赶出来。由于没有得到与媒体谈论敏感军事战术的授权，这两名官员要求不具名。

After the Israeli troops spotted the three men on Wednesday, a firefight broke out and one Israeli soldier was badly wounded. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that two of the three men fled into a building, and the third into an adjacent one.

以色列军队上周三看到那三名男子后，双方发生了枪战，一名以色列士兵受了重伤。以色列军方发言人纳达夫·肖沙尼说，三名男子中的两人逃进了一栋建筑，第三人逃进了相邻的另一栋建筑。

The troops killed the first two militants and turned their attention to the man in the other building, deploying a drone to examine the building’s interior. The drone, entering a ruined house from the upper floor, captured footage of a wounded man sitting in a chair, his face swaddled in a kaffiyeh to hide his identity.

部队将那两名武装分子击毙后，将注意力转向了另一栋建筑中的男子，部署了一架无人机对建筑物内部进行调查。无人机从楼上进入了这栋已被毁坏的建筑，拍摄到了一名受伤男子坐在椅子上的画面，为了隐藏身份，他用方头巾把脸遮住。

The man hurled a stick at the drone, according to the footage. Israeli officials said a sniper then shot the man in the head, and a tank fired at the building.

从视频中看到，这名男子向无人机扔了一根棍子。以色列官员说，一名狙击手随后击中了这名男子的头部，一辆坦克向建筑发射了炮弹。

It was getting dark by then, and the troops decided to return to the two buildings on Thursday morning to lessen the danger from booby traps that Hamas often sets inside buildings it has evacuated.

那时天色已晚，为了减少遇到饵雷的风险（哈马斯经常在他们撤离的建筑物里设置这种雷），以色列军队决定第二天早上再回到这两栋建筑里来。

In one of the buildings, they found automatic weapons, thousands of dollars’ worth of Israeli currency, a pamphlet with prayer verses and even a packet of Mentos breath mints, according to photos from the scene provided by Israeli officials.

据以色列官员提供的现场照片，部队在其中一栋建筑中找到了自动武器、价值数千美元的以色列货币、一本写有祈祷经文的小册子，甚至还有一包曼妥思薄荷糖。

The troops found a man in the rubble who looked strikingly like Mr. Sinwar, with a large hole in his forehead and a gash on his knee. An electrical cord had been tied around his severely injured right arm to stanch the bleeding.

部队在另一栋建筑的废墟中找到一名男尸，他长相酷似辛瓦尔，额头上有个大洞，膝盖上有道伤口。他的右臂严重受伤，绑着一根电线止血。

辛瓦尔（中）去年在加沙城与民众打招呼。以色列军队最近在特拉尔苏丹巡逻，并不是基于精确情报的突袭，而是试图获取有关哈马斯领导层下落的线索。

The Israelis cut off one of his fingers to use for DNA testing, and took photographs of his teeth to match with Mr. Sinwar’s dental records on file from his years in an Israeli prison.

以色列人把他的一根手指切了下来，进行DNA检测，还拍了他牙齿的照片，以便与辛瓦尔在以色列监狱服刑期间的牙科病例做比较。

Based on fingerprints and dental records, Israeli officials determined that it was Mr. Sinwar. By Thursday evening, his body had arrived at Israel’s National Institute for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, where Dr. Chen Kugel, the head of the institute, oversaw an autopsy.

在指纹和牙科病例的基础上，以色列官员确认他是辛瓦尔。到上周四晚时，他的尸体已运到特拉维夫的以色列国家法医研究所，在该研究所所长陈库格尔博士的监督下做了尸检。