Tonight at 8 and 10 p.m. ET, Anderson Cooper reports from Israel on the fatal conflict in the Middle East, and the efforts to end the violence.
At 2 p.m. ET today a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel was put into effect. The agreement was announced in Cairo by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr hours after a bomb exploded on a Tel Aviv bus, injuring 24 people, police say.
Both sides traded rocket fire during the day, resulting in a total of 142 deaths in Gaza since the conflict began eight days ago, according to Hamas. In Israel, five people have been killed. In Gaza and Israel, houses were destroyed and panic and trauma was widespread. An estimated 1,456 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, and Israel fired at more than 1,450 targets in Gaza.
The history of distrust, religious differences, political ties, and divided factions in both Israel and Gaza make for challenging negotiations and what former Senator George Mitchell calls "the most complicated situation imaginable." Mitchell, President Obama's former Special Envoy to the Middle East, will be on with Anderson tonight to share his experiences trying to achieve peace in the past, and what the new compromise means. Watch a preview of that conversation above.
Ben Wedeman and Arwa Damon report from Gaza City where celebrations were heard in the streets tonight. Christiane Amanpour discusses her interview with a Hamas leader in Cairo about the first terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in six years. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren will be on 360, and IDF spokeswoman Avital Leibovich joins us as well to discuss the deadly exchanges. Anderson will also get insight from Fareed Zakaria and Anne-Marie Slaughter.
Will the cease-fire last? Let us know what you think and tweet your thoughts to @AndersonCooper.