President Trump, who had pushed a Gaza deal that will free 11 hostages on Thursday and three more on Saturday, is aspiring to shake the Mideast further. Success might hinge on Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is scheduled, next Tuesday, to become the president’s first foreign guest in his second term at the White House. 

Messrs. Trump and Netanayhu share dual Mideast goals: widening the peace treaties known as the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia and slowing, or even completely ending, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear advances. More immediately, though, they might diverge on how to move forward on Gaza and other Palestinian-related issues.      

Implementation of a cease-fire for hostages deal that was launched on the eve of Mr. Trump’s January 20 inauguration is being accelerated. Six Israeli hostages are to be released this week, double the number originally scheduled. The quickened pace was made possible after Hamas last week reneged on releasing one female civilian, Arbel Yehud.

Mr. Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, reportedly put heavy pressure on Hamas’s ally in the negotiations, Qatar, and as a result Ms. Yehud will now be released on Thursday. The last of the living female Israeli soldiers, Agam Berger, will also be freed tomorrow, as will the first male who is more than 50 years old, Gadi Moses. 

An American hostage, Keith Siegel, might now be freed along with two other older men on Saturday. In a separate deal, the government of Thailand secured the release on Thursday of five of its living citizens, as well as three bodies. Hamas kidnapped them in Israel on October 7, 2023. 

Mr. Witkoff, who is leading these negotiations, on Wednesday was the first high-ranking American official to visit Gaza since the start of the war. Flanked by Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, the Trump envoy visited members of two American security contractors charged with inspecting movement of Gazans to northern Gaza. The return of residents of the north from the Strip’s south was one of Hamas’s top demands in the cease-fire negotiations. 

Mr. Dermer also accompanied Mr. Witkoff on a tour of the Philadelphi Corridor, which separates Gaza from Egypt. Control of that strategic tract of land is expected to be one of the thorniest issues in negotiations over the second phase of the cease-fire deal. While Mr. Witkoff has already initiated some contacts, negotiations over the deal’s second and third phases are to begin in earnest next Tuesday. 

Tuesday is also when Mr. Netanyahu will arrive at the White House. President Biden long resisted inviting the Israeli premier there before finally receiving him last July. Mr. Trump, in contrast, is making a point of having him there as his first foreign guest. Separately the president is also reportedly planning to make Riyadh his first foreign trip of his second term. 

Before traveling to Gaza and Israel, Mr. Witkoff on Tuesday went on a rare trip to Saudi Arabia, where he met Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to discuss regional issues. Axios is reporting that while at Riyadh, the envoy also conferred with a senior Palestinian Authority official, Hussein al-Sheikh. 

Saudi officials have long made a “path” to a Palestinian state a condition of any deal to formalize relations with Israel. Finding a formula that would satisfy that demand could be tricky, though, as even a vague indication that Palestinian statehood is in the offing could fracture Mr. Netanayhu’s right-wing coalition. It might even force an early Israeli election at an inconvenient timing for the premier’s Likud party.  

As Tehran is fast making new strides toward possessing a nuclear weapon, meanwhile, Mr. Netanayahu will likely ask his White House host for heavy weapons that could penetrate Iran’s deeply dug nuclear facilities. Mr. Trump might give Israel such weapons. Yet, as he indicated last week, he would rather end the threat “without having to go that further step.”

Some of Mr. Netanayahu’s coalition partners are already grousing that there have been too many Gaza concessions. They also oppose moves on drafting Orthodox Jews to the army and other internal issues. To appease them, the premier would love to return from Washington with tangible gains, such as weapons to attack Iran, even if he secretly promises Mr Trump that he would hold on before actually making a military move. 

Alternatively, Mr. Netanayhu could add centrist politicians to his coalition if a Saudi deal looks promising. We are “closer than ever,” the new Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, who is a champion of Judea and Samaria settlers and a confidante of the premier, told the Jerusalem Post Tuesday. Normalization with Riyadh, he added, will be a “game changer for the region and beyond.”   

The American president and the Israeli prime minister are aspiring to put their personal stamps on a transformed Mideast. Agreements on how to get there, though, could prove tricky.