we've got reports tonight from israel and cairo. and christiane amanpour has an exclusive interview with a defiant hamas leader. >> is it useful to kill civilians? is that useful to you? and women of a certain age, seeking much younger men. extreme cougar wives looking for love and more, if they can find the right cub. plus, fryer beware. there's a wrong way to do it. a very wrong way. so, tonight, my co-anchor bill weir with a "nightline" holiday tradition. his sorta safe step-by-step guide to deep frying your thanksgiving turkey. >> it's foolproof. gobble gobble, everybody. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," november 21st, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. well, tonight, the guns of gaza

and israel have gone silent, for now. a hard won and desperately fragile cease-fire is in place, on paper, between israel and palestinians have been schilling each other for days and threatening a wider, bloodier war. in gaza tonight, celebrations as israel agreed to end air strikes that have killed more than 160 people. for israel, a promise of no more rocket fire from gaza and attempted incursions from there, but on the ground, there are already signs now that the peace may not be holding. so, we begin our coverage of the cease-fire with matt gutman in tel aviv. >> reporter: it took eight bloody days, more than 160 palestinians killed and israeli bombardment and six israel littles killed from some 1,500 palestinian rockets. but tonight, a cease-fire, as terrified civilians on both

sides breathe a cautious sigh of relief. the egyptians who worked to broker this cease-fire announced it. and with the american secretary of state standing next to the new egyptian foreign minister, surely a potent symbol of the post-arab spring middle east. >> now that there is a cease-fire, i am looking forward to working with the foreign minister and others to move this process. >> reporter: in a synchronized statement an hour later in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu cautiously endorsed the plan, thanks secretary clinton and president obama, and blaming iran for arming hamas. hamas declared victory sand saying, "we won this round and netanyahu lost in his first war ever. in six months time, we will have more strength and longer range and more accurate missiles." on the palestinian side, the truce was met with jubilation, celebratory gun fire in the gaza strip. on the israeli side, grim-faced israeli leaders briefed the country about this deal. and just hours after they did

that, nearly two dozen rockets lobbed from gaza into israel la landed, increasing the skepticism. one israeli official says this is quiet for quiet, nothing more and doubt it will last two minutes. tonight, already, israeli can comedians lampooning leaders for brokering this deal. terry? >> thank you, matt. this historic cease-fire was signed in cairo. that's a sign, as matt pointed out, of the rising influence of a new and democratic egypt. but the key player in all of this is a man who is a hero to many palestinians. and a terrorist to israelis. the leader of hamas. a new power player in the world, and abc's christiane amanpour is in cairo. she's got an exclusive interview. >> reporter: terry, cairo has been the scene of frantic shuttle diplomacy today. u.s. cemetery of state hillary clinton as well as the u.n. chief have been here. they will not talk to hamas,

because hamas is considered by the u.s. and israel and much of the west as a terrorist organization. so, when you hear about the man who the egyptian president is negotiating with on behalf of israel, it's this man that i spoke to today. and we had a fiery exchange about civilian casualties, both in israel and in gaza and about why hamas won't recognize israel's right to exist. anyone looking for a sign that the arab spring has changed the middle east can find it here. the cease-fire would not have happened without this man. but for decades, he's bun one of israel's most hated enemies. they've tried to kill him and they consider him a terrorist. today, he was unapologetic for the actions that his group has taken. is it useful to kill civilians to create terror on civilians inside israel? >> translator: let me -- let me give you the proof.

on the 8th of november, this month, the israelis entered gaza and killed a child. they bear the responsibility. we don't target the civilians. i don't like to shed any blood -- any drop of blood. >> reporter: do you consider how many palestinian civilians are being killed because of your actions? >> translator: it is not because of our action. we are defending our people and our land. >> reporter: hamas is a militant islamic party that won the popular vote in gaza. it's gaining popularity in the west bank and does not recognize israel's right to exist. >> translator: how can i accept israel? they have occupied my land. i need recognition, not the israelis. >> reporter: he is a kind of storied figure in middle east, because israel littles tried to assassinate him in the '90s in

jordan. >> translator: but god saved me when they tried to assassinate me. >> reporter: king hussein saved you. >> allah saved me. >> reporter: seven years later, he became the head of hamas. in a situation where the palestinians have, for years, seemed to lack real leadership and divided against themselves in many cases, meshaal is thought by some to have aspirations of eventually filling the leadership vacuum left with the death of yasser arafat. he's not as charismatic as arafat, but he is a hero to many. what do you want to do for your people? it's endless war. >> translator: allah has given me a new life, to serve my people. to end the occupation. the settlement ends and the killing ends and the aggression ends and to make peace in the region, but through peace, peace that is not rewarding the

occupier, does not oppress the victim. peace, the kind of peace that precludes occupation and the bloodshed. >> reporter: meshaal is thought to be part of the wing that was advocating a turn away from violence for his group. one question, can he corral those people within his own camp who have likely been emboldened by the success of the current campaign of rocket attacks on israel? and another wrinkle. hamas is not the only group fishing rackets from gaza into israel. islamic jihad has been doing that and a splinter palestinian group took responsibility for the bus bombing in tel aviv today. so, the question is, will hamas be able to control those people in gaza and thus stake out a real leadership role? certainly hamas will be held responsible. terry? >> thanks, christiane. quiet there for now. in the middle east. we'll keep you posted.

we're going to turn the page now. still ahead, we've got a new twist on a may to december or december to may romance. older women, much older women, and the younger men in their lives. i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> so, you've heard of cougars, perhaps, those older women on the prowl for young men. they've been doing it for decades, men have, so, what's good for the goose may be good for the gander. abc's nick watt met up with some cougars for whom age is no barrier. >> i'm confident. i'm sexy. i'm loving. i never have a headache.

>> reporter: and there she is. patty, 76 years old. >> you go for younger men. >> yes, i do. >> reporter: how young have you gone? >> actually 18. >> reporter: kid's not old enough to drink. >> so? who says you need liquor to help you out? i hope you don't. >> reporter: patty is a cougar and octavio, age 28, is a cub. what's the oldest you've ever date? >> she's now 69. for me, this is who i am. i like older women. >> reporter: all your life? >> all my life. >> reporter: he's now dating stephanie. she's 65. yep, that's a 37-year age gap. >> that's not normal, i don't think. a 28-year-old going for a 65-year-old woman when there are women like us who are beautiful and they go for a 65-year-old woman. i don't get it. >> reporter: cougar/cub relationships are increasingly

common. there are cougar conventions, cougar dating sites. a growing niche. did ashton and demi start the trend? the fantasy goes back to mrs. robinson. and whostiffler's mom? and now patty and stephanie tell their stories in a daring tlc show, called "extreme cougar wives." and featured, june, 54, and kevin, 21. >> she's -- >> i'm 53. >> see? >> what? >> i'm 53. >> so, she's older than your mother. >> reporter: these brave women agree to lay out their unusual love lives on tv in order to make a point. >> it's a marvelous experience for the young man and certainly for the older woman or i wouldn't do it. >> there are a lot of us around and we are not asexual and we

are not dead. >> reporter: stephanie was married for years until, sadly, he died. a few years later, she met octavio. >> i said, i'll wake ylk you tor car. she said, you're going to have to walk me ohome. i was like, even better. >> that was a year ago, so, we've been together ever since. >> cheers. >> reporter: his friends are not entirely supportive. >> i like stephanie, as a person. i don't like her with octavio. >> that's fine for ricky to say. ricky's never had a relationship that's more than a one-night stand. >> stick to someone my own aige. >> ricky, stop. >> reporter: does it hurt you a little bit? >> sure. i'm human. >> love you. >> love you. >> reporter: okay, so, what's in it for octavio and the young cubs? they're not sugar mommas. kevin swears he's not doing this to get on tv and promote his music career. so, this is not a sham. >> no. are you kidding?

>> reporter: just for the record. >> if i were a sham, it would be a lot more work than a sham is worth. let me put it that way. >> reporter: they are, they say, just madly in love. is there some mother issue there at the root of it? >> could be a grandmother issue. like i care? >> i like a few wrinkles around the eyes, i think it's a beautiful thing. they carry themselves with this confidence and i find that extremely sexually appealing. because they don't care whether you like them or not. my parents are super cool with it and they love her. they really do. >> i love his mother. >> reporter: is your mother younger than you? >> yeah. a couple years. >> a couple years. they're in their 60s. >> reporter: and where does it go? or who cares? >> where does anything go? it goes to tomorrow and if tomorrow is good, it goes to the next day. >> reporter: june was married before. chef has a daughter who actually dated kevin when they were in middle school. now, june has to sneak in and out of kevin's bedroom, because

he lives with his parents. >> i have to admit, i do feel like a kid again. >> reporter: she and kevin decided to have a commitment ceremony and then went later to kevin's parents. >> we kind of got married. >> huh? >> kevin, is that true or are you lying to me? >> reporter: do you ever meet the parents? >> no. >> reporter: are you looking to get married? >> oh, honey, i'd love it. >> reporter: but somebody a bit younger. >> a bit? >> reporter: a lot. >> i don't know if it's going to show on tv, darling, but you are blushing. >> reporter: patty, i imagine a lot of people are right now. i imagine a lot of people are. i'm nick watt for "nightline" in los angeles. >> "extreme cougar wives" airs sunday on tlc and thanks to nick watt for that. next up, well, there's definitely a wrong way to do it.

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like many families, our "nightline" family has a thanksgiving culinary tradition. my co-anchor bill weir introduced us to the art, not the science, of cooking turkey . here's bill's guide to doing it right. >> reporter: hall will, lovers. happy thanksgiving. this recipe is for all of those who want to keep the oven off this holiday and go outside, enjoy a nice brisk autumn and it is also for those who enjoy a little danger. seasoning their stuffing and cranberries, the threat of a, i don't know, massive deck fire

and third degree burns. now, step number one is to go to youtube and type in turkey fryer disaster. >> drop and run, dude, drop and run. >> reporter: and there you'll see why, exactly, you're going to want to remain sober and well away from your wood deck. the first mistake all of those people made was overfilling the kettle. putting too much oil in, so when they drop the bird, it spilled over the top and started a fire that will burn for weeks. put your bird in the basket and in the kettle and fill it up with water. you want to put just enough water to cover the top of the bird. just barely over the top and that way, you know exactly how much oil to put in. so, the night before you fry the bird, you are going to want to inject it with marinade. you can buy the premade stuff or you can make your own using half pound of butter. about a bottle of beer. a little bit of worcestershire

sauce. some salt. seasoned salt is good, too. you can use cajun spice, you can get creative with that. you're going to come up with a nice marinade and then you are going to need one of these sort of fantastic dentist of doom sir ringers, right? and you are going to want to pour a little of that in there. like that. and then -- boo! >> what are you doing? >> this won't hurt a bit. open your mouth. >> no! >> so, then you stick it into that, you know, into the leg, going to inject a little bit into there. into the breast. now, while the oil is getting up to 350 degrees, it's a good time to remind pets and kinds they are not allowed near the frying apparatus. just to be sure, i usually tie my child to a tree. top on.

and about three minutes for every pound. 15-pound bird. we have 45 minutes to kill. ♪ i fell in love with a mexican girl ♪ how does that smell? smell done to you? as long as you don't burn your house down -- it's foolproof. gobble gobble, everybody. >> dad! >> thanks, bill. enjoy that turkey. we want to wish you a happy thanksgiving. cynthia mcfadden will be here tomorrow. inspiring story about friendship. jimmy kimmel is next. up next on an all-new "jimmy kimmel live" -- >> the food comes out on thanksgiving, i eat like the cookie monster. i don't eat, i just grab the food with miss hands and smash it over my fa.