Good evening Middle East Eye readers. 

Our live coverage will soon be closing for the day. Here are today's main developments:

- Gaza's death toll has reached 37,202

- Massive rocket barrages were fired from Lebanon toward Israel on Wednesday after the assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander by Israel last night

- The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has once again issued a plea for fuel to operate generators in health centres across Gaza City

- An official account representing Israel on X shared a video on Tuesday claiming "there are no innocent civilians" in Gaza 

- Hamas has requested a written guarantee from the US for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces

- Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday, that the US must pressure Israel to accept the ceasefire proposal 

- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said his country would be presenting "concrete ideas" for Gaza post-war within the coming weeks

US President Joe Biden's administration has said it is "deeply concerned" about recent reports of Israel torturing Palestinian detainees in a military base in the Negev Desert, but those comments have been criticised by a leading rights group that says Washington should have information about Israel's detention conditions.

"The fact that the US government appears not to have information from the Israeli government on detention conditions and torture allegations is remarkable and wrong," Sarah Yager, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, told Middle East Eye.

"Clearly US officials should have eyes on Israel's conduct. If they truly don't, that needs to change – including knowing whether or not detainees are being tortured," she added, noting that US weapons have been "supporting Israel throughout their Gaza campaign".

Over the past several weeks, several US media outlets have reported that Israeli detention centres have been using torture on Palestinian detainees, with the focus being on the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev Desert.

Most recently, the New York Times published a three-month-long investigation into the treatment of Palestinians at Sde Teiman. The report found systematic sexual abuse and torture perpetrated against detained Palestinians, with one account of that treatment revealing one detainee "died after they put the electric stick up" his anus.

Read More: US claim it has no information on Israeli torture 'remarkable and wrong': Rights group

Yemen's Houthis targeted the Greek-owned merchant 'Tutor ship' in the Red Sea, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech on Wednesday, adding that the ship was hit and faced the danger of sinking.

The attack was announced in a statement by the group, saying that "a naval drone, aerial drones and ballistic missiles" were used in the targeting of the coal carrier ship.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by Britain's Royal Navy, said a ship was "hit on the stern by a small craft", 66 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's port city Hodeida.

Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that it urges the US, Israel's biggest ally, to pressure Israel to accept a deal leading to a permanent ceasefire.

While US officials have said that Israel has accepted US President Biden’s ceasefire proposal, "we have not heard any Israeli official confirm this acceptance", the statement by Hamas reads.

Hamas also reiterated that it has shown "full positivity" in efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Current and former employees and shareholders of the US tech giant Apple have signed an open letter calling on the company to stop matching employee donations to organisations that further illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and others that support Israel's military.

The letter is the latest form of dissent from within Apple, and builds upon a campaign recently started called Apples4Ceasefire, which called on the company to remove two organistations from its donation platforms that fund West Bank settlements.

"We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Apples4Ceasefire who have requested Apple remove two organisations funding illegal settlements from Benevity," the letter said.

"We are amplifying that message, and asking that Apple must promptly investigate and cease matching donations to all organisations that further illegal settlements in occupied territories and support the IDF [Israeli army]," it added.

The organisations listed in the open letter include Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, HaYovel Inc, One Israel Fund, the Jewish National Fund and IsraelGives.

Read more: Employees accuse Apple of donating to groups funding West Bank settlements

An off-duty Israeli soldier reportedly opened fire on a group of Palestinians after a verbal clash at Al-Asbat Gate in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Four Palestinians were injured, including one seriously, Anadolu media agency reported.

The soldier reportedly claimed that he thwarted an attempt to steal his weapon.

Israeli police said the incident is under investigation, according to Anadolu’s report, and is looking into the possibility that the soldier and off-duty troops that were with him, were involved in an incident of violence before the gunfire.

Two Egyptian security sources said that Hamas has requested a written guarantee from the US for a permanent ceasefire as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip in order to agree to the US-backed ceasefire proposal.

Biden's ceasefire proposal, the so-called "three phase plan", entails the gradual release of Israeli captives held in Gaza, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from areas in the Gaza Strip over two phases. The plan also includes the reconstruction of Gaza and the return hostages' bodies.

While the US claims that Israel has accepted the proposal, Israel has not publicly confirmed its acceptance.

In pictures: Fire burns in northern Israel following cross-border rocket attacks from Lebanon, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan has denied that the group had put forward new ideas for the Gaza ceasefire proposal, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Hamas of suggesting numerous changes to the deal in their response.

Earlier on Wednesday, Blinken said that Hamas had proposed a number of changes, including some he deemed unworkable, to the ceasefire deal, adding that mediators remained determined to close the gaps.

Hamdan reiterated Hamas's stance that it was Israel that was rejecting proposals for an end to the war, and accused the US administration of "evading any commitment" to a blueprint for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Blinken was "part of the problem, not the solution" in the Gaza war, Hamdan told Al-Araby TV.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that the amendments proposed by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal are minor and the United States will work with Egypt and Qatar to bridge gaps in the proposal.
 

“Many of the proposed changes are minor and not unanticipated. Others differ more substantially from what was outlined in the UN Security Council resolution,” Sullivan said.

An official account representing Israel on social media platform X shared a video on Tuesday claiming "there are no innocent civilians" in Gaza.

The claim appeared within a post accusing Palestinian civilians of involvement in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October and of harbouring captives taken by the group during the assault.

"We need to talk about the elephant in the room," the post starts, before continuing: "Many Gazan civilians participated in the horrific events of 7 October. It is also reported that Gazan civilians held Israeli hostages captive in their homes. The world must condemn this in the strongest terms."

In the video accompanying the statement, former captive Mia Shem is heard saying, "There are no innocent civilians there" -  a quote that is repeated in bold font in the video's captions.

Read more: Israel social media account declares 'there are no innocent civilians' in Gaza

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has suggested a ceasefire deal in Gaza would help ease tensions in Lebanon, where there has been increasing clashes between Israel and armed groups.

“What I’ve heard from everyone concerned,” he told reporters in Qatar, “is there’s a strong preference for a diplomatic solution.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the best way also to empower a diplomatic solution to the north – in Lebanon – is a resolution of the conflict in Gaza and getting a ceasefire."

“That will take a tremendous amount of pressure out of the system,”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said his country would be presenting "concrete ideas" for Gaza post-war within the coming weeks.

Speaking in Qatar, Blinken said they would be presenting "key elements of the day-after planning including concrete ideas for how to manage governance, security, reconstruction".

He added that he had reviewed suggestions submitted Tuesday by Hamas for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, saying "some of the changes are workable, some are not".

Gaza's health ministry said the death toll from Israel's invasion of the enclave has reached 37,202.
 

Hamas wants written guarantees from the United States for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip in order to sign off on a US-backed truce proposal, two Egyptian security sources said.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt said Hamas had responded on Tuesday to the phased ceasefire plan for an end to the eight-month Israeli war on Gaza, without giving details.

The Egyptian sources and a third source with knowledge of the talks said Hamas had concerns that the current proposal does not provide explicit guarantees over the transition from the first phase of the plan, which includes a six-week truce and the release of some captives, to the second phase, which includes a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal.

The Egyptian sources said Hamas would only accept the plan if the guarantees were in place, and Egypt was in contact with the US about the demand.

"Hamas wants reassurances of an automatic transition from one phase to another as per the agreement laid out by US President Biden," the third source said.

Hamas and Egyptian authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reporting by Reuters