WASHINGTON, D.C. – A private meeting between President Biden and Muslim community leaders at the White House underscored tensions between the two camps as the Israeli war on Gaza rages on.

Palestinian American doctor walked out of Tuesday evening’s closed-door session, which was part of the administration’s scaled-back events to mark the holy month of Ramadan.

Dr. Thaer Ahmad told ABC News contributor Asma Khalid, a White House correspondent for NPR, he left the meeting to “bring the protest to the forefront of the president.”

“I wanted to be able to communicate also what I had witnessed firsthand,” Ahmad said, noting that he wanted to convey what was taking place inside Gaza as someone who’d been there since Oct. 7.

A Palestinian American doctor who walked out of a meeting with President Biden and other Arab and Muslim leaders and activists on Tuesday said he left “out of respect for my community.”

“So, it was tough. I wanted to communicate that message,” he said. “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 also delivered to the president a letter from a little girl in Rafah pleading for Biden to help end the conflict.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was peppered with questions about the incident at Wednesday’s press briefing.

“He understands that this is a painful moment for many Americans across the country,” she told reporters about Biden’s reaction to the walkout. “And so, he respects their freedom to peacefully protest.”

Ahmad was the first to speak with Biden at the meeting and described watching Nasser Hospital, where he worked, become inoperable and people flee to Rafah — a city in southern Gaza where 1.4 million Palestinians are believed to be taking refuge. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his forces are planning a military operation in Rafah to root out Hamas.

“I also said that I’m disappointed that I’m the only Palestinian American person here and that out of respect for my community and everybody that’s grieving and mourning all of the loss of life that’s in the Gaza Strip, I have to excuse myself and walk out,” Ahmad said. “And then I handed him [Biden] a letter from an 8-year-old orphan in Rafah, basically, essentially begging [Israel] not to invade. He took the letter. He looked at it and then he said he understood.”

A young girl in Gaza holds up a letter expressing fear about a possible Israeli invasion of Rafah and pleading with President Biden to help end the conflict. – Photo was given to ABC News by Dr. Ahmad

Ahmad shared a photo with ABC News of the 8-year-old girl holding up the letter. In it, she said she lost her “entire family” in the war and expressed fear about being displaced in Rafah. She wrote, “This is scaring me a lot because there is no place left for us to go.”

The letter also included a direct message for Biden: “Amanah Amanah ya Biden” which translates to, “Save us save us oh Biden.”

“She’s begging the president of the United States to make sure that Israel doesn’t cause a bloodbath,” Ahmad told ABC News.

Ahmad said the more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah are “terrified. They feel every single shake from the bombs, they hear every single fighter jet fly above their head.”

“That’s really the urgency that we’re trying to communicate,” he said. “It’s not about me just getting up and walking out of the room with the president. It’s really not about some theatrical performance. It’s just purely trying to do whatever we can to bring attention to this looming invasion.”