LONDON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in London on Friday with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati as Washington appeals to Israel to keep its military campaign against Hezbollah short, a US official said. The top US diplomat arrived late Thursday in London after a three-nation tour of the Middle East, where he also pleaded to protect Lebanese civilians but stopped short of urging an immediate ceasefire by Israel. Blinken will also meet Friday separately with the foreign ministers of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, two key US partners in a post-war plan for Gaza, the State Department official said. Mikati was heading for the talks with Blinken following a conference Thursday in Paris on aiding Lebanon in which he said that only the Lebanese state should bear arms. Israel has vowed to cripple Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militia and political movement that has long maintained its own forces. Hezbollah has lobbed missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas since the Palestinian militants’ October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered Israel’s massive military assault in Gaza. Blinken did not attend the Paris conference, sending one of his deputies. The United States has stopped short of calling on Israel, which relies on US military and political support, to end attacks immediately in Lebanon. Blinken, at a news conference earlier Thursday in Qatar, said that Israel was working to remove the “threat” of Hezbollah but there must ultimately be a diplomatic solution. “We have been very clear that this cannot lead — should not lead — to a protracted campaign and that Israel must take the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger UN peacekeepers or the Lebanese Armed Forces,” Blinken said.