The Wall Street Journal reports [10] that officials held a preparatory call ahead of the Israel–Lebanon talks. MTV, the Lebanese broadcaster, elaborates [20]: the call included the Lebanese ambassador in Washington, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, the US ambassador to Lebanon, and the director of planning at the US State Department. Four people. One imagines a conference room somewhere in Foggy Bottom, possibly with a whiteboard that no one has touched.
The word "preparatory" is doing a great deal of work. According to multiple outlets [2, 3, 4, 9, 10], Israel and Lebanon opened direct negotiations in 2026 to disarm Hezbollah and reach a peace agreement — the first such talks since the 1983 May 17 Agreement collapsed. Al Arabiya tells us [5] the US launched Pentagon talks to facilitate the process, and Le Monde notes [11] that Washington hailed the discussions as "productive". But before productivity, there is preparation. Before the room where it happens, there is the room where people agree on the time and venue of the room where it happens.