In Russia, too, war weighs on the public mood. The second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, combined with Alexei Navalny’s death, marks a transitional moment. The public may be going along with the war, but the country is also shrinking its already limited space for expression.

• China hacking probed: Police there investigate an unauthorized online dump of documents from a private security contractor linked to China’s top policing agency. It shows apparent hacking activity and tools to spy on Chinese citizens, including those abroad. 
• New York eyes Trump assets: Former President Donald Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can’t pay his New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million. 
• Denmark unveils Ukraine aid: It announces a 1.7 billion kroner ($247.4 million) military aid package Feb. 22 and appeals to allies to step up donations to help the country in its war with Russia. 
• New AI cop: As new technology challenges law enforcement and the criminal justice system, the U.S. Justice Department appoints its first official focused on artificial intelligence Feb. 22. Jonathan Mayer will advise on how to responsibly integrate AI into the department’s work.
• Beyoncé tops country charts: The superstar singer becomes the first Black woman to top Billboard’s country music chart. Her new single “Texas Hold ’Em” reached No. 1 on the country airplay chart this week.

Read these news briefs. 

Efforts to put Trump supporters in charge of Republican infrastructure are bearing fruit. Some see grassroots activism. Others see a hostile takeover.

As President Joe Biden pushes his vision of a regional Mideast peace deal emerging from a Gaza cease-fire, his prime audience is a skeptical Israeli public. 

The 2021 coup in Myanmar brought new blood into resistance groups. Their fresh ideas – and dedication – have been embraced by the old guard, helping build momentum against the junta.

How far would someone go to have a better life? Italy’s Oscar nominee offers an immigration story that features searing realism – and resilience.  

During conflicts in the Middle East, any peace-feeler often takes a touch of trust. A good example was reported Wednesday by Israel’s Channel 12 news. Israel plans to start restoring Palestinian governance in Gaza even before the war with Hamas ends.

In a pilot project, the Israel Defense Forces will work with trusted community leaders in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City to be in charge of aid distribution, or what are called “humanitarian pockets.” The IDF will still provide security but not govern the process.

A future Palestinian government in Gaza, said wartime Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz this week, “cannot be Hamas and should not be Israel.”

The plan faces severe tests. Any Palestinian in Gaza working with Israel is a target for radicals. And the violent, anti-Israel ideology of Hamas might be difficult to suppress. The answer is to build more or different bridges of trust. Israel, for example, hopes to back up the new Palestinian governance in Gaza with “an international administration of moderate Arab countries with the support of the US,” Mr. Gantz said.

Peace in Gaza will indeed need a regional response. Since the war started four months ago, the Gulf state of Qatar, which has trusted contacts across the region, has played the role of mediator between Hamas and Israel in arranging temporary cease-fires and the release of hostages and prisoners. This week, another Arab country with a history of peace facilitation, Oman, stepped in.

It called for an urgent international conference on creating a Palestinian state, similar to the 1991 Madrid Conference that helped lead to the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Oman’s plan would include Hamas.

“Hamas cannot be eradicated,” wrote the Omani foreign minister, Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, in The Economist. “Movements of national liberation like Hamas are too deeply rooted in their communities. Their cause will be kept alive however many militants die. So, if there is ever to be peace, the peacemakers have to find a way to talk to them. And to listen.”

Can Hamas, despite its horrific attack on Israeli civilians, be trusted? Mr. Busaidi gives this response: “There is an assumption that the people of the Middle East are so imprisoned by sectarian logic that they are incapable of making the kind of sophisticated judgments that the people of the liberal and democratic West are used to making. This is deeply condescending. It is also factually wrong.”

He adds, “We must also believe that there exists an Israeli leadership that can be persuaded to engage in good faith.”

Oman’s suggestion of a large-scale peace conference relies on the idea that talking alone can be a trust-maker. Results will come later and need not be specified upfront. Like cat’s feet, trust can come quietly and quickly if warring parties simply talk privately. Past crises in the Middle East have sometimes led to negotiated and surprising solutions.

Distrust is now high in the region. Only a third of Israelis, for example, trust their own government. Any plan to rehabilitate the devastated Gaza Strip is a starting point for trust-building. It is also one for a larger peace.