The video depicts a desperate, abandoned man trying to attack a sophisticated military drone with a wooden stick. Or perhaps it shows a defiant hero who is staring the enemy in the eye while fighting till the bitter end.

U.S. officials said that senior White House officials regularly met with William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, and Lloyd J. Austin III, the defense secretary, about what more support the targeting cells might need to speed the hunt for Mr. Sinwar.