CNN has multiple crews in Gaza, Israel and neighboring countries to bring you the latest accurate information on the conflict, the impact on people and talks to stop the violence. Turn to CNN TV and CNN.com for what you need to know now.
Near the Israel-Gaza border (CNN) -- A cease-fire agreement has been reached to end the hostilities in Gaza, Egypt's foreign minister announced Wednesday at a news conference.
The cease-fire was scheduled to take effect at 9 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said.
The agreement came hours after militants exploded a bomb on a public transport bus in Tel Aviv, injuring 24 people.
The blast shook up the Israeli public and drew immediate condemnation from world leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called it "shocking." The White House labeled the strike a "terrorist attack," and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States "stands ready to provide any assistance that Israel requires."
Timeline: Israel-Gaza conflict
Hamas praised the attack, which struck close to the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF. But the group did not claim responsibility.
"We told you #IDF that our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are," the al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Twitter. "You opened the Gates of Hell on Yourselves."
Map: Israel Map: Israel .cnnArticleGalleryNav{border:1px solid #000;cursor:pointer;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:25px} .cnnArticleGalleryNavOn{background-color:#C03;border:1px solid #000;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:20px} .cnnArticleGalleryNavDisabled{background-color:#222;border:1px solid #000;color:#666;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:25px} .cnnArticleExpandableTarget{background-color:#000;display:none;position:absolute} .cnnArticlePhotoContainer{height:122px;width:214px} .cnnArticleBoxImage{cursor:pointer;height:122px;padding-top:0;width:214px} .cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControl{background-color:#000;color:#FFF} .cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControlText{cursor:pointer;float:right;font-size:10px;padding:3px 10px 3px 3px} .cnnArticleGalleryPhotoContainer cite{background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #000;bottom:48px;color:#FFF;height:auto;left:420px;opacity:.7;position:absolute;width:200px;padding:10px} .cnnArticleGalleryClose{background-color:#fff;display:block;text-align:right} .cnnArticleGalleryCloseButton{cursor:pointer} .cnnArticleGalleryNavPrevNext span{background-color:#444;color:#CCC;cursor:pointer;float:left;height:23px;text-align:center;width:26px;padding:4px 0 0} .cnnArticleGalleryNavPrevNextDisabled span{background-color:#444;color:#666;float:left;height:23px;text-align:center;width:25px;padding:4px 0 0} .cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{padding-right:68px;width:270px;margin:0 auto} .cnnGalleryContainer{float:left;clear:left;margin:0 0 20px;padding:0 0 0 10px} Israeli soldiers pray next to an artillery gun along Israel's border with Gaza on Wednesday, November 21. Violence continued in the region Wednesday, leaving hopes of a cease-fire in tatters just hours after a halt in fighting seemed close. Emergency services personnel work at the scene of an explosion on a bus Wednesday in Tel Aviv, Israel. The blast on the public transport bus left at least 22 injured, a hospital official said. A woman is helped at the scene by emergency workers Wednesday after the explosion on the bus in Tel Aviv. The Ministry of Internal Security compound in Gaza City is in ruins Wednesday after an Israeli airstrike targeted it overnight. Smoke billows after Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza on Wednesday. An Israeli soldier sleeps in a deployment area Wednesday on Israel's border with Gaza. A Palestinian pushes his bicycle amid debris Wednesday near the destroyed compound of the Ministry of Internal Security in Gaza City. An Israeli airstrike targeted the building overnight. The Israeli military strikes border tunnels between Egypt and southern Gaza on Tuesday, November 20. Israeli-fired artillery flares illuminate the sky over the southern Israeli border with Gaza Tuesday as fighting continues. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met to deliver joint statements in Jerusalem, Tuesday. Israeli forces fire a shell from the Israel-Gaza border into Gaza on Tuesday. Men on motorcycles drag the body of man through the streets of Gaza City on Tuesday. The men dragging the body claimed it was the body of a collaborator and an Israeli spy. Ronit Hakmon reacts to the damage to her home in Beer Sheva, Israel, on Tuesday, after a rocket from Gaza militants hit it. Palestinian families evacuate their homes following an Israeli airstrike Tuesday in Gaza City. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the weeklong attacks, the Gaza Ministry of Health says. Four Israelis have died. Palestinian children stand at the gate of their home Tuesday as they watch a funeral procession for those killed following an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza. A Palestinian carries a bag of items salvaged from a house destroyed in an Israeli airstrike Tuesday on Gaza City. An Israeli soldier reads his morning prayers Tuesday at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza border as they prepare for a potential ground operation in the Palestinian coastal enclave. A Palestinian boy walks through the rubble of Hamas commander's house Tuesday in the southern Gaza town of Rafa. An overnight Israeli airstrike targeted the home. An Israeli F-15 takes off from an Israeli air force base on Monday, November 19, on a mission over the Gaza Strip. Israel carried out 80 strikes on Monday, raising to more than 1,300 the number of sites targeted since it began its bombing campaign on Wednesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. An Israeli pilot adjusts a strap as he sits in the cockpit of a jet at an air force base on Monday. Palestinian firefighters extinguish a blaze following an Israeli airstrike in a Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media on Monday. An Israeli girl holds her sister as they take cover in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Monday in Nitzan, Israel. Israeli children play in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter on Monday in Nitzan. Birzeit University students clash with Israeli soldiers at the Atara checkpoint close to the West Bank university as they protest against Israel's military action on Monday. Birzeit University students clash with Israeli soldiers on Monday. Palestinian women mourn during the funeral Monday of members of one family killed when an Israeli missile struck a three-story building in Gaza City on Sunday. Israeli artillery shells hit a target in the Gaza Strip on Monday near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. An Israeli soldier from a tank squadron attends a morning briefing at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Monday. Israeli soldiers from a tank squadron prepare ammunition at an Israeli army deployment area on Monday. A paramedic helps a Palestinian woman out of her building, which was damaged during an Israeli air raid on a nearby sporting center in Gaza City on Monday. At least 90 Palestinians, including a family of 10, have been killed, officials say. A man covers his nose and mouth as he passes burning debris after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday. A Palestinian man carries a stuffed toy through a street littered with debris after an air raid on a sporting center in Gaza City on Monday. Palestinian men gather around a crater caused by an Israeli airstrike at a home in Gaza City on Sunday, November 18. Palestinian relatives grieve at the hospital in Gaza City on Sunday over family members killed in an airstrike. Palestinians search the debris of the home following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday. An Israeli emergency worker inspects the damage to a car in Ofakim, Israel, that was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Israeli soldiers wait at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Sunday as they prepare for a potential ground operation in the Palestinian coastal enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is ready to "significantly escalate" its operation against militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on an office of Hamas television channel Al-Aqsa in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Sunday. Israeli warplanes hit the Gaza City media center and homes in northern Gaza in the early morning. Palestinian children look at damaged buildings following Israeli air strikes Sunday in Rafah. Israeli soldiers wearing prayer shawls conduct morning prayers Sunday at an Israeli army deployment area. An Israeli soldier from a tank squadron adjusts the tank barrel at an Israeli army deployment area on Sunday. Cloth hangs from a window of a building damaged during Israeli air strikes on Gaza City on Sunday. A Palestinian demonstrator throws stones in front of the headquarters of the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday during a protest against Israel's ongoing military operation in Gaza. A fireball rises as the Israeli air force carries out a raid over Gaza City on Saturday, November 17. An Israeli woman and her children take cover as sirens wail in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza by Palestinian militants were the "precipitating event" for the fighting under way now, U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday. Palestinians walk amid the debris of a burning factory near the house of Ezzedine Haddad, commander of the armed wing of the Hamas movement, after it was destroyed during an Israeli air strike on Gaza City on Saturday. A Palestinian woman helps her friend cover her face with a traditional scarf during clashes at the Hawara checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday. People rallied against the Israeli military operations. Palestinians stand on the rubble of the demolished home of Ezzedine Haddad, commander of the armed wing of the Hamas movement, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Saturday. Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed 10 Palestinians, five of them militants, as nine Israelis were hurt by rocket fire, four of them soldiers, medics said. Israeli soldiers fire tear gas toward strone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday. Israeli strikes on Gaza destroyed the Hamas government headquarters as Israel called up thousands more reservists for a possible ground war. Palestinian youth clash with Israeli soldiers during protests at the Hawara checkpoin on Saturday. Israeli soldiers stand guard by the Iron Dome defense system launch site on Saturday in Tel Aviv, Israel. A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with Gaza shows smoke billowing following an Israeli air strike inside the Palestinian territory on Saturday. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel would be held to account for the children who were among 40 people dead in three days of airstrikes on Gaza. A Palestinian youth takes cover behind a makeshift barrier during clashes with Israeli soldiers on November 17, 2012. Israeli strikes on Gaza destroyed the Hamas government headquarters as Israel called up thousands more reservists for a possible ground war. An Israeli missile from the Iron Dome defense missile system is launched to intercept and destroy incoming rocket fire from Gaza on November 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israeli troops have been massing on the border as some 200 targets were hit overnight in Gaza, including Hamas cabinet buildings. Israeli civilians run for cover during a rocket attack launched from Gaza on November 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israeli soldiers gather next to their armored bulldozers stationed on Israel's border with Gaza on Saturday, November 17. Israeli soldiers fire tear gas toward stone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive in Gaza in the village of Beit Omar, north of the West Bank town of Hebron, on Saturday. Egypt and Turkey put the onus on Israel to end the fighting around Gaza as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Cairo a day after Washington urged the two governments to pressure the Palestinians. An injured student from the University of Birzeit is carried away Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers as hundreds of students took part in a demonstration against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Betunia. Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 10 Palestinians and destroyed the Hamas government headquarters. A student from the University of Birzeit throws a molotov cocktail toward Israeli soldiers during clashes. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli air raid in Gaza City on November 17, 2012. Israeli air strikes hit the cabinet headquarters of Gaza's Hamas government after militants fired rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as Israel called up thousands more reservists in readiness for a potential ground war. Palestinian paramedics carry an injured woman on a stretcher Saturday following an Israeli air raid on a house in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Smoke billows across the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip on Saturday following Israeli air strikes inside the Palestinian territory. A Palestinian Hamas policeman looks at an Israeli rocket in the street in Gaza City on Saturday. An Israeli man walks to his house damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the moshav of Sde Uziyahu near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. The Israeli military said it had sealed off all main roads around Gaza and declared a closed military zone, in the latest sign it was poised to launch a first ground offensive on the Palestinian enclave since December 2008-January 2009. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest near the Israeli Embassy in Madrid on Friday against Israel's aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israeli children wave their national flag Saturday as they greet a bus carrying soldiers on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim. Israeli tanks maneuver at the Israeli-Gaza Strip border. Relatives take cover from a rocket attack during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malachi, Israel, on Friday, November 16. At least three people were killed in the Israeli town when a rocket fired from Gaza struck an apartment building there on Thursday. Fighting between Israel and Hamas militants persisted Friday with no immediate end in sight. A rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel sails into the air Friday. Explosions erupt from spots targeted by Israeli airstrikes inside Gaza on Friday. Israeli soldiers stand guard while explosives experts examine the site where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in the village of Kisan, south of Bethlehem on Friday. A relative grieves during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, on Friday. Palestinian protesters hold up the Hamas flag during a rally Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. People take cover during a rocket attack at a funeral Friday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel. Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli security forces Friday in a West Bank village near Bethlehem. An Israeli soldier aims at Palestinian youth at a West Bank checkpoint Friday during a protest against the fighting in Gaza. Palestinian Fares Sadallah, 11, cries outside his home after an Israeli airstrike Friday in northern Gaza. Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a blaze Friday at the Ministry of Interior in Gaza City following an Israeli air raid. Relatives of Itzik Amsalam, who was killed Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, mourn during Friday's funeral. A woman cries during the funeral of Itzik Amsalam on Friday. An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister toward Palestinian stone throwers on a road mainly used by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Beit Omar on Friday. Palestinians run for cover after an Israeli airstrike hits Gaza City on Friday. Palestinian youths inspect a destroyed mosque in northern Gaza on Friday. Israeli soldiers conduct a patrol as some 16,000 reserve troops are drafted in on Friday. Palestinian mourners carry the body of Audi Naser during his funeral in Gaza on Friday. Palestinian women and children cry during the funeral of Audi Naser on Friday. Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Civilian Affairs branch of the Ministry of Interior on Friday. Smokes billows from a target of an Israeli airstrike Friday in Gaza near the border with Israel. An Israeli woman looks out from an apartment building in Ashdod, Israel, damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants on Friday. Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Interior Ministry building in Gaza City Friday. Israelis take cover in a pipe used as a bomb shelter, after a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, November 15 in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. Rockets and shells crisscrossed between Israel and Gaza on Thursday as Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel pounded what it called terror sites. An Israeli man looks out from an apartment building that was hit by a rocket launched presumably from the Gaza Strip, claiming three lives on Thursday in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli air strikes targeted an electricity generator that fed the house of Hamas's Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, on Thursday. A crater is left at a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City early Thursday. Israeli soldiers rest by their armored personnel carriers stationed on the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday. Rescue workers evacuate a body Thursday in the Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi after a rocket launched from Gaza hit an apartment building. Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Hanen Tafish, a 10-month-old girl, at the morgue of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday after she died following an Israeli air strike in the Zeitun neighbourhood. Palestinians watch a funeral Thursday in southern Gaza. A Palestinian pleads for help as he and others try to save a man trapped under his car after an Israeli air raid Thursday in northern Gaza. Israeli police inspect an apartment building hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Kiryat Malakhi on Thursday. At least three Israelis were killed and four were wounded, an Israeli police spokesman said. The Israeli military launches a missile Thursday from the southern city of Beersheba. A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike inside Gaza on Thursday. A Palestinian man inspects his damaged house following an Israeli airstrike early Thursday in Gaza City. An Israeli reacts after a rocket launched from Gaza hits a building Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi. Palestinian firefighters extinguish the blaze from the car of Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, after an Israeli airstrike hit it in Gaza City on Wednesday, November 14. The Israeli strike killed al-Jaabari. A woman sits inside a bomb shelter Wednesday in Netivot, Israel. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike Wednesday in Khan Younis, Gaza. Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from the car in which al-Jaabari was apparently riding. A Palestinian man cries as security forces wheel al-Jaabari's body into a hospital. Palestinian youths look inside a building where al-Jaabari's body was brought after the attack. A wounded Palestinian girl cries at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Palestinian youths evacuate an elderly man following an Israeli airstrike. Palestinian civilians leave their houses following an Israeli airstrike. 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between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis HIDE CAPTION << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 > >> Photos: Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Cease-fire threatened by bus explosion? Bus explosion a 'game changer'?Later, in an interview on the Hamas TV station al Aqsa, the group's spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called on Palestinians for more such attacks.
"We need more of these painful strikes inside the depths of Israel, in all the towns and cities and villages of Israel," he said.
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Meanwhile, overnight and into Wednesday, Israeli bombs and artillery turned buildings, tunnels and bridges in Gaza into rubble in 100 strikes confirmed by Israeli authorities. Hamas struck back with at least 62 rockets aimed at southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
Israel launched the conflict eight days ago with a stated goal of ending the frequent rocket attacks on southern Israel from inside Gaza. Hamas officials have termed it a criminal expansion of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.
.cnnArticleGalleryNav{border:1px solid #000;cursor:pointer;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:25px} .cnnArticleGalleryNavOn{background-color:#C03;border:1px solid #000;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:20px} .cnnArticleGalleryNavDisabled{background-color:#222;border:1px solid #000;color:#666;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:25px} .cnnArticleExpandableTarget{background-color:#000;display:none;position:absolute} .cnnArticlePhotoContainer{height:122px;width:214px} .cnnArticleBoxImage{cursor:pointer;height:122px;padding-top:0;width:214px} .cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControl{background-color:#000;color:#FFF} .cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControlText{cursor:pointer;float:right;font-size:10px;padding:3px 10px 3px 3px} .cnnArticleGalleryPhotoContainer cite{background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #000;bottom:48px;color:#FFF;height:auto;left:420px;opacity:.7;position:absolute;width:200px;padding:10px} .cnnArticleGalleryClose{background-color:#fff;display:block;text-align:right} .cnnArticleGalleryCloseButton{cursor:pointer} .cnnArticleGalleryNavPrevNext span{background-color:#444;color:#CCC;cursor:pointer;float:left;height:23px;text-align:center;width:26px;padding:4px 0 0} .cnnArticleGalleryNavPrevNextDisabled span{background-color:#444;color:#666;float:left;height:23px;text-align:center;width:25px;padding:4px 0 0} .cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{padding-right:68px;width:270px;margin:0 auto} .cnnGalleryContainer{float:left;clear:left;margin:0 0 20px;padding:0 0 0 10px} Emergency services at the scene of the explosion on a bus with passengers onboard. Emergency services rush to the scene of an explosion on November 21 in central Tel Aviv. An injured woman is helped from the scene after the explosion. Emergency services attend the scene after a bus explosion in central Tel Aviv. Emergency services gather at the scene of an explosion on a bus with passengers onboard. A general view of the scene after an explosion on a bus in central Tel Aviv. Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv HIDE CAPTION << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 > >> Bus bombing shakes Tel Aviv Rockets rain down on Israeli town Interactive timeline of the conflictWhat could bring the conflict to an end?
The bus attack happened around noon in a typically quiet neighborhood of Tel Aviv near Israel's Defense Ministry offices. It was the first terror attack in Tel Aviv since 2006, and the first assault on a bus in Israel since August 2011, when a man blew himself up near a bus near Eilat, killing the driver.
In Wednesday's incident, two people told Israeli radio that they saw a man throw a bag into the bus and then run away after the explosion.
Terrorists planted at least two bombs on the bus and fled, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Only one of the bombs exploded, blowing out the windows of the bus but leaving the vehicle otherwise intact, he said.
Images on Israeli TV showed white smoke rising from the bus as police and witnesses milled outside. Police cordoned off the street. At least one passenger was taken out on a stretcher.
Opinion: Israel is facing a new reality
Rosenfeld said 24 people were wounded, three of them seriously. Aviva Shemer with Ichilov Hospital said pedestrians were among the injured.
Tweets from @cnni/israel-gaza-updatesOne victim was in serious condition with shoulder injuries, while two others suffered moderate injuries from glass fragments. Some of those being treated suffered panic attacks, Shemer said.
Police said Wednesday evening they were seeking at least one and possibly two suspects.
Israeli authorities have stepped up security nationwide, with additional police on the streets and more plainclothes police officers patrolling public areas, Rosenfeld said.
Tel Aviv resident Audrey Shemesh, who lives in an apartment building overlook the scene of the explosion, said the attack had shaken her confidence in peace.
"They want us dead, and this is really sad," Shemesh said of militants battling Israel, "For now I don't see any solution. They don't want to stop this. They just want to go on and on and on. It's really sad because I believe in peace."
Hamas put its own spin on the attack in a banner on al-Aqsa.
"Hamas blesses the suicide bombing and assures that it is a natural response to the massacre of the al-Dalou family and targeting of innocent Palestinian civilians."
Nine members of the al-Dalou family died in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, provoking outrage among Palestinians.
Hillary Clinton's farewell tour takes detour
What is Gaza? Land area: 360 sq. km or 138 sq miles Population: Nearly 1.7 million That's about the size of Detroit, Michigan (pop. 710,000) Or Malta plus San Marino (combined pop. 427,000) Religions: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 99.3%, Christian 0.7% Economy: Agriculture and small businesses Unemployment: 40% in 2010There was no immediate response from Israeli leaders to the Tel Aviv bus attack Wednesday and it was not immediately apparent whether it could prompt Israel to step up its offensive or unleash the thousands of troops it has massed at the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground offensive.
Tuesday night, it seemed a cease-fire, or at least a temporary calming of the violence, was imminent.
A senior Hamas official had told CNN that a "calming down" was to take place, and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, who has tried to broker a peace deal, said Tuesday that the "travesty of the Israel aggression on Gaza will end in a few hours."
But after a few hours, Morsy's office told CNN not to expect any announcement.
Opinion: How this could be the last Gaza war
Prior to Wednesday evening's announcement of a cease-fire, Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy leader of Hamas in Cairo, blamed Israel for the breakdown in the talks Tuesday.
"The Israelis did not respond last night at our revised conditions relayed to them through the Egyptian intelligence," he said. "Talk of a temporary cease-fire or 'calming down' was brought to the table, yet they escalated their air strikes late last night as we were trying to reach any sort of cease-fire."
Israeli President Shimon Peres, however, said Hamas was asking for conditions that Israel simply cannot meet.
"They want Israel to do nothing. We shall not fly over, we shall not guard the border," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "Many others. The conditions of Israel is basically security conditions. Their conditions are political ones and this is a contradiction."
The IDF said it had targeted "dozens of terror infrastructure sites," overnight, including Hamas' Ministry of Internal Security, which it saw as a "main command and control center."
Forces also took aim at a police compound, a "military hideout," and other targets it linked to what it called Hamas' "terror activity."
The Israeli military also struck a media building, where it said Hamas "deliberately located" an "intelligence operation center," and a system of tunnels used to transport fuel.
How this conflict reignited
Militants lobbed rockets and missiles toward Israel, targeting military bases, radar sites and numerous cities, including Beer Sheva, according to the al Qassam Brigades' Twitter feed.
Arab delegations voice support for Gaza The view from Gaza Analysis conflict in GazaA rocket alarm howled in the Israeli city of Ashkelon shortly after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, just minutes after Hamas' TV broadcaster al-Aqsa reported its militants' rockets striking there as well as in the towns of Sderot and Ashdod. CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Ashkelon heard two impacts but could not yet say if the rockets hit anything.
All told, militants had fired 62 rockets from Gaza as of Wednesday afternoon, with 42 landing in Israel, according to the IDF. The Israeli military's Iron Dome defense system intercepted the other 20, the IDF said.
Smuggling weapons to Gaza -- the long way
Diplomats working on a cease-fire hope to avoid a repeat of 2008 and 2009, when at least 1,400 people died when Israeli troops invaded Gaza after a similar spate of rocket attacks.
At least 142 people have died in Gaza since the Israeli airstrikes began, according to the Ministry of the Interior in Gaza. Another 1,180 have been injured, the ministry said. In Israel, five people have died and 94 have been wounded, according to authorities.
In Israel, Iron Dome can't keep the fear away
Clinton shuttled between meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leadership Wednesday, then moved on to Cairo, where she met with Morsy Wednesday night.
She met earlier in the day with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank, according to the U.S. Embassy, as well as with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem for a second day.
Abbas told Clinton that Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis and that an immediate cease-fire is needed, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Clinton is not expected to travel to Gaza, which is run by Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and other countries.
Ban also met with Abbas in Ramallah Wednesday morning.
"Today the situation in Gaza is deeply alarming," Ban said, standing next to Abbas at a news conference. "Rockets aimed at military targets inside Gaza are killing and injuring civilians and damaging... civilian infrastructures."
He demanded that diplomacy pave the way forward and called for the emergence of a Palestinian state.
Pope Benedict, speaking from Vatican City, also issued a plea for peace.
"I feel the duty to reiterate once again that hatred and violence are not the solution to problems," he said.
In Gaza, too young to understand but not to die
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