The White House on Wednesday said President Joe Biden told Muslim leaders that he is committed to securing a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza and “mourns the loss of every innocent life” in the war in Gaza while declining to offer a response to a Palestinian American doctor leaving the meeting, meant to mark Ramadan, early. 

“The President also expressed his commitment to continue working to secure an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free the hostages and significantly increase humanitarian aid into Gaza,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday. “And the president made clear that he mourns the loss of every innocent life in this conflict, Palestinian and Israeli.”

What You Need To Know

  • The White House on Wednesday said President Joe Biden told Muslim leaders that he is committed to securing a cease-fire and hostage release deal and “mourns the loss of every innocent life” in the war in Gaza
  • Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, however, declined to offer a response to a Palestinian American doctor leaving the meeting, meant to mark Ramadan, early 
  • Biden on Tuesday hosted a group of Muslim leaders at the White House for a private meeting to mark Islam’s holy month of Ramadan followed by a “small” prayer and iftar dinner with Muslim administration officials, Jean-Pierre said Tuesday
  • Biden has faced mounting pressure from some at home over his continued support of Israel as the Palestinian civilian death toll has risen and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened

On Tuesday, Biden, joined by with Vice President Kamala Harris and senior national security officials, hosted a group of Muslim leaders at the White House for a private meeting to mark Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. Following the meeting, the president was set to hold a “small” prayer and iftar dinner with Muslim administration officials, Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. 

The events Tuesday night -- considered slimmed down when compared to last year’s large, festive Eid al-Fitr reception at the White House to mark the end of Ramadan -- served as a display of the frustrations of some in the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. 

Jean-Pierre on Tuesday noted that the White House “adjusted the format” to be a “working group meeting” specifically at the request of Muslim leaders. 

“Community leaders expressed the preference of doing a meeting -- a working group meeting, if you will,” she told reporters. “They wanted to make sure that there was an opportunity to discuss the issues at hand.”

“We did that, we listened, we heard, and we adjusted the format to be responsive and so that we can get feedback from them,” Jean-Pierre added. 

Jean-Pierre on Wednesday emphasized the meeting was private and declined to go further when asked about Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American who said he walked out of Tuesday’s meeting. 

“He understands that this is a painful moment for many Americans across the country,” Jean-Pierre said of the president. “And so, he respects their freedom to peacefully protest.  I don't have anything outside of that.”

Ahmad, who spent time in Gaza in January amid the war, told CNN he that he expressed to Biden on Tuesday that his community is “reeling” and “not satisfied with what has taken place.” 

“I was able to share that with the President and let him know that out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered and who have been killed in the process, I need to walk out of the meeting,” he said in an interview with CNN. 

“There wasn’t a lot of response,” Ahmad said of the president’s reaction. “He actually said that he understood and I walked away.” 

Ahmad added his community was “panicking” about a potential Israeli ground invasion of Rafah – the city in southern Gaza in which more than one million civilians are taking refuge. 

Israel has insist that an invasion of Rafah is the necessary next step in its campaign to eliminate Hamas following the group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people. The White House has made clear it doesn’t support a full ground operation without a plan to protect civilians in the city, which National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby on Friday described as a “difficult chore” for any military. 

When asked about reporting that Ahmad presented the president with a letter from a young orphan living in Rafah, Jean-Pierre did not answer whether Biden read the letter, reiterating they wanted to keep the meeting private. 

Protestors demonstrated in support of Palestinians and as a counter to the meeting accross from the White House Tuesday night. 

Biden has faced mounting pressure from some at home over his continued support of Israel as the Palestinian civilian death toll has risen and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened. 

The Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza says more than 30,000 people in the Palestinian territory have died since the start of the war.