Biden met with a small group of Muslims yesterday. This doctor walked out

President Biden met with a small group of Muslims at the White House on Wednesday — a conversation that became another sign of how contentious his relationship with Arab-Americans and Muslims has become because of the war in Gaza.

Dr. Thaer Ahmad was one of the people at the meeting. But the emergency medicine physician walked out of the meeting before it was over. He told NPR he left out of respect for his fellow Palestinians and as a signal that he believes the White House needs to do more to end the war and to get humanitarian aid into the region.

Ahmad recently returned to the United States from Gaza, where he was treating patients in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis before it became inoperable due to fighting.

He told NPR he wanted to share what he had witnessed first-hand with the president, and speak out against potential Israel military action in Rafah.

"We've been on the ground, we've seen just how overcrowded Rafah is — just how little aid is getting in — and that any sort of military activity there would be catastrophic," Ahmad said.

He said he handed Biden a letter from an 8-year-old orphaned Palestinian girl who begged Biden to stop Israeli troops from entering the city.

"It was tough, you know — I wanted to communicate that message, but at the same time, I also wanted it to be clear that up until now — what the White House has done is not sufficient enough," Ahmad said.

The White House declined comment on the discussions during the private meeting. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden respects the right to peaceful protest. "We understand it's a very painful time," she told reporters.

Another doctor showed Biden photos of the suffering

Dr. Nahreen Ahmed also attended the meeting. The medical director