The White House announced, on Monday, that Hamas currently bears responsibility for deciding on a ceasefire in Gaza, after negotiators made an offer to the Palestinian movement, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.

It pointed out that the talks that took place in Cairo over the weekend, in which CIA Director William Burns, Israel, Hamas, and Qatar participated, were serious, but it was too early to say whether they would bear fruit.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “At the end of the weekend, an offer was made to Hamas. Now it is up to Hamas to make the decision.” Kirby refused to provide details about the proposed agreement, explaining that "that would be one of the surest ways to blow it up."

This is the first official confirmation from the United States that Burns traveled to the Egyptian capital to participate in the talks. US President Joe Biden sent Burns days after a phone call he made with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which he warned of a change in US policy unless Israel took further steps to protect civilians in Gaza.

Kirby noted on Monday that Israel is now taking greater steps to deliver aid to Gaza, as Biden requested during the call with Netanyahu. He said: "Yesterday we saw more than 300 trucks entering Gaza, and this is progress. But... their number must increase and these operations must be sustainable to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza."

Israeli officials are scheduled to visit the White House in the coming days to listen to American concerns about the proposed Israeli attack on Rafah.

Kirby explained that there is no indication that Israel's announcement, at the beginning of the week, to withdraw its forces from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip indicates that the Rafah operation is now on the table. He continued: "We do not support a major ground operation in Rafah. We also do not see any sign that there is a major ground operation imminent, or that these forces are being repositioned to carry out this type of ground operations."