The United States is skeptical of the seriousness of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to agree to a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, a White House spokesperson said here on Wednesday.

"We have every right to be skeptical of things that you see in the newspapers reported about Hamas and so I think we need to wait and see what actually happens," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

She repeated the U.S. call for "a durable ceasefire established as soon as possible," noting that "in previous ceasefires, what Hamas had done is use that time not to build roads and not to help their people and provide food and shelter for those that need it, but to rearm and buy rockets with that money."

Perino also said that the U.S. government appreciated Egypt's mediation effort to establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.

After 19 days of Israeli aerial and ground strikes, Hamas announced on Wednesday evening that it has accepted an Egyptian-brokered initiative to reach a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Source:Xinhua