Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in visits to both the West Bank and Iraq, sought to reassure Palestinian leaders on Sunday that the United States was committed to minimizing harm to civilians under fire in the Gaza Strip from Israel and to warn Iran not to jump into the conflict.
Mr. Blinken, who has been in the Middle East since Friday, early in the day held an unannounced meeting in the Israeli-occupied West Bank with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Then, in another surprise visit, he traveled to Baghdad, reinforcing a signal to Iran that the United States is prepared to defend its allies in the region against aggression by Iran or its proxies.
“It was very important to send a very clear message to anyone who might seek to take advantage of the conflict in Gaza to threaten our personnel here or anywhere else in the region: Don’t do it,” Mr. Blinken said in a brief address at the Baghdad airport.
During his visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier in the day, Mr. Blinken spoke to Mr. Abbas about U.S. efforts to get Israeli leaders to “minimize civilian harm” in Gaza, a senior State Department official said.
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