Bob's Blog: An air disaster in Ukraine, an invasion in Gaza

(CBS News) -- It's been a busy week here in Washington and around the world. Everyone is scrambling to make sense of Thursday's shocking developments in Ukraine: the deadly crash of Malaysia Airlines flight 17.

Credible information has been hard to come by, and the White House has been quietly cautious over the last 24 hours. But for now, we believe that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile and it appears that pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine are possibly behind it. Perhaps it was an accident.

One American was killed in the crash. Most of the passengers have been identified as European nationals many from the Netherlands. The plane was carrying about 45 people from Malaysia as well, where the airliner is based.

The White House was quiet at first, and President Barack Obama was busy yesterday plugging his infrastructure agenda and raising money in New York. He blamed pro-Russian rebels this morning and called for an immediate cease-fire in the region. Still, many questions remain as to how this tragedy can be fully investigated in the tumultuous rebel-held territory.

The conflict in Ukraine has really heated up, but the region we were all watching earlier this week was the Middle East. After a week of Hamas rockets attacks and Israeli air strikes, Israel launched its highly anticipated ground invasion of Gaza.

Civilian casualties are expected to rise as Israeli troops try to destroy terrorist infrastructure in the densely populated Gaza Strip. President Obama said today he supports Israel's right to defend itself but stressed the need to minimize civilian losses.

We're going to do our best on "Face The Nation" this Sunday to bring you up to speed on everything.

We'll talk to Secretary of State John Kerry. Plus, we'll hear from Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security. He also sits on the House Intelligence Committee, which is regularly briefed on pressing national security issues.

We'll also be joined by Martin Indyk, the former U.S. special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He worked closely with both sides over the past year during the tense rounds of peace negotiations.

We'll have reports from Mark Phillips in Ukraine and Clarissa Ward in Moscow. They're working their sources to get new information on the investigation and reaction from the Kremlin, which has denied responsibility. Holly Williams will be in Gaza City for the very latest on the invasion there.

CBS News correspondents Margaret Brennan, David Martin, Bob Orr and Jeff Pegues will share their insights as well. They'll be joined by Mike Morell, the former CIA deputy director and a CBS News contributor, and Mark Rosenker, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, who is now transportation and safety analyst for CBS News.

Finally, we'll hear from Peter Baker of The New York Times, David Ignatius of the Washington Post and Kim Strassel of The Wall Street Journal. They'll share their thoughts on Ukraine and Gaza and the President's handling of these foreign crises.

We hope you'll join us on Sunday for "Face The Nation." Check your local listings.