Hostage and ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas have reached a stalemate due to the terror organization’s outlandish demands, according to the CIA.

“It was a deep disappointment to get a negative reaction from Hamas,” recalled CIA Director William Burns during a Thursday event at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. “Right now, it’s that negative reaction that is standing in the way of innocent civilians in Gaza getting humanitarian relief that they so desperately need.”

According to the New York Times, Burns traveled to Cairo earlier this month to push a “far-reaching proposal” that would have seen a pause in fighting for six weeks. Israel had agreed to release hundreds of dangerous Arab prisoners in exchange for 40 “humanitarian” hostages, which include women, children, elderly, and the sick. Israel also offered to allow some Gazans to return to the northern part of the enclave, a key Hamas demand.

However, Hamas is only willing to offer up to 20 hostages based on a narrower “humanitarian” definition limited to the elderly and women. The terror group claims that it does not even know the whereabouts of all the estimated 133 hostages taken from southern Israel on October 7. Furthermore, Hamas is seeking the release of even more dangerous Arab prisoners as part of their counterproposal and wants US-backed assurances that Israeli troops will completely pull out of the Gaza Strip.

“It breaks your heart because you can see in very human terms what’s at stake here,” Burns said.