It is not where the Biden administration wants to be less than two weeks before the U.S. presidential election.

Israeli attacks with American-made bombs continue to wipe out Palestinian families in Gaza. The war in Lebanon is expanding. And Israel and Iran’s exchanges of direct attacks could escalate, following Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military sites early Saturday.

With many progressive voters and Arab and Muslim Americans in battleground states furious at President Biden for his unwavering support of Israel’s offensives since the devastating Hamas assault last year, U.S. officials had been desperate for some way to prod the Middle East toward stability.

Then came Israel’s Oct. 16 killing of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, which Biden officials saw as a fresh opportunity to try to achieve a rapid negotiated settlement to Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.

Less than three weeks before the election, Mr. Biden dispatched Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to the Middle East for that purpose. The trip this week, his 11th wartime visit to the region, had an improvised quality reflecting its last-minute origins: Mr. Blinken departed without a clear itinerary and canceled a planned stop in Jordan before carrying on to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, unexpectedly, London. There, he met separately on Friday with officials from Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

In Doha, Mr. Blinken announced that U.S. and Israeli negotiators would be returning to Qatar soon in an effort to revive hostage and cease-fire talks with Hamas.