Joe Biden’s decision to unannounced and publicly announce the cease-fire proposal for Gaza was deliberate, US officials say, in order to limit the scope for objections from Israel and Hamas.

In particular, when the US president publicly announced the truce proposal developed by Israel and the United States and sent to Hamas, he did so without seeking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agreement, three US officials said

“We did not ask for permission to announce the proposal,” a senior US official said, adding “we informed the Israelis that there was going to be a speech on the situation in Gaza. We didn’t go into too much detail about what it was.”

For months, negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have tried to broker an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands, but to no avail.

The proposal announced Friday calls for an initial six-week ceasefire with an Israeli military withdrawal from residential areas of Gaza and the release of some hostages, while “a permanent end to hostilities” would be negotiated through mediators.