President Joe Biden's hopes for a Gaza ceasefire have become even more distant due to new demands from Hamas, The Washington Post reports.

Efforts underway for months to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of American hostages in Gaza have faced several obstacles related to the terms the two sides have failed to agree on. With prospects for a ceasefire agreement already bleak, officials are beginning to worry that Hamas' demands for new terms of agreement have upset the Biden administration's plan and may even make a ceasefire impossible to achieve, The Post reports. Reported. (Related: Biden administration official says not interested in Harris administration)

According to The Washington Post, the administration, which has already put forward or supported several ceasefire proposals, recently planned a new “take it or reject it” proposal that would include provisions to help bridge the gap between Israeli and Hamas demands for a deal, but has postponed putting forward the proposal indefinitely after Hamas recently announced that it wants the deal to include the release of more Palestinian prisoners than were agreed upon.

“Just because we don't have an alternative doesn't mean this strategy is working,” former NATO ambassador Ivo Daalder told The Post about the administration's efforts to put together the deal. “It's really astonishing the amount of talent that's gone into getting to where we are now, which is getting nowhere, and at some point you have to decide that this strategy isn't working.”

According to The Washington Post, some of Biden's advisers are urging him to put more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get the deal done. There has been discussion within the White House about whether to publicly denounce Netanyahu to get the deal done, but people familiar with the discussions who spoke to The Washington Post said such a move is unlikely.

Netanyahu is now in a difficult position, having to decide whether to end the war out of humanitarian concerns or continue it in order to more thoroughly weaken Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of people inside Israel are Protested Prime Minister Netanyahu denounced Hamas for refusing to agree to a full ceasefire following reports last week that six hostages, including an American, had been killed in the Gaza Strip by the group.

Further complicating the situation is Hamas's stubbornness in negotiations, often derailing any path to a ceasefire with seemingly unreasonable demands for an agreement. Hamas' latest demand comes after the terror group has rejected a succession of proposals.

Privately, U.S. officials have reportedly begun to fear that they will not be able to negotiate with Hamas, given its killing of six hostages, and that it will never agree to a ceasefire.

The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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