Anger is growing across the world after an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen. But even as President Biden expressed his outrage over the incident, the White House is reaffirming its support for Israel's war against Hamas. And the frustration is also mounting in Israel as president, rather, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces pressure for failing to reach a deal to get those hostages held in Gaza released today. Members, family members of the hostages stormed the gallery of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Watch this day. And how is it coming out of Knesset, coming out, and is it I'll never get as much evidence. Some demonstrators chanted. And as you saw in that video, others climbed over the seats as authorities tried to contain everyone. Earlier, a key Netanyahu war cabinet member called for early elections in September, echoing what protesters have demanded for weeks now. Demonstrators are also calling for Netanyahu's resignation. Let's get perspective from the White House now with CNN's M.J. Lee. MJ, let's start with your new reporting. The White House again reaffirming support for Israel, even amid backlash over the deadly strike on these aid workers. What is the White House saying? Yeah, Boris, I can tell you that the deaths of these seven aid workers has touched off fury and indignation here at the White House. And you certainly sense that from the statement that we got from President Biden last night where he said that he was outraged and heartbroken. And a senior administration official saying that frustration here at the White House has really reached new levels. What was striking about that statement from the president last night was how explicitly he blamed Israel for the incident. He said Israel has simply not done enough to protect civilians and protect aid workers. And he said what happened to these World Central Kitchen aid workers simply should not happen. Now, despite the president being completely furious over this incident, the White House is making clear today that the US is stance and supporting Israel and its current war against Hamas is not changing. Take a listen. I can say that nothing has change and we've been clear about that since certainly since yesterday. We are going to continue to have those really tough conversations. All right. Important to have conversations about how Israel, Israel moves forward with their operation. We want to make sure that civilians are kept safe, that are protected, and also folks who are providing humanitarian aid. The U.S., of course, has been urging Israel to change its conduct for months, sometimes to little effect. I should also note the White House says it is waiting for the results of that investigation that Israel is conducting into that incident. The president says that he wants to see accountability, but it's unclear right now what accountability there would look like. And M.J., what is the White House saying about this meeting where a Palestinian American doctor walked out? Dr. Ramat is here with us and we're going to chat with him in a moment. But what is the White House saying about that meeting? Yeah, you know, this was initially supposed to be an after dinner hosted by the White House, a breaking of the Ramadan fast, but it was revised to a meeting when participants raised concerns about this idea of having a celebratory meal. Given the situation in Gaza and how many people there are starving right now. And among the participants, of course, is Dr. Ahmad, who traveled to Gaza earlier this year. He stood up and left the meeting as a sign of protest. And one of the things that he says he did was hand the president a letter from an eight year old girl who has been orphaned in Rafah, basically begging the president to stop Israel from going in. Obviously, just one more vivid example of the furious backlash that the president continues to confront as this war rages on. Boris, M.J. Lee live for us from the White House. M.J., thank you so much, Brianna. As we just heard, tensions high at the White House last night as the president met with a small group of Muslim community leaders and that included emergency medicine physician Dr. Thaer Ahmad in that group before he walked out in protest. He recently traveled to Gaza as part of a delegation of doctors from the NGO Med Global, where he was treating patients in al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. And he's here with us in studio now. Doctor, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. Can you just tell us about this meeting at the White House, how it started and why you decided to walk out? Yeah, I mean, my understanding was that in lieu of the traditional annual White House of thought that given the circumstances and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, that it was going to be some sort of like working dinner and it would be the first time that the president would hear from people who were actually on the ground in Gaza since October 7th. But over the course of a week, many things developed and changed and really kind of soured people's intentions and expectations for the meeting. And so it was a few members from the Muslim American community, people who had also been on the ground in Gaza ready to give their firsthand eyewitness testimony. And myself, the only Palestinian-American. So tell me how the meeting, when it starts, how does it start? Yeah, I mean, you know, we had showed up into at the White House and the president walks in, he shakes everybody's hand. He sits down and then he says a few words. He just says, this is a listening session. We're here to hear you guys out. We know a little bit about what's going on on the ground, and we're working very hard on it. There's no mention of Gaza or Palestine or the World Central Kitchen, people who have been killed, the starvation or the famine in the north or the looming invasion of which we're all very concerned about. And, you know, trying to communicate a sense of urgency. You began he asked you to speak? Yeah. Tell me about that and tell me what you said. Yeah. I mean, he looked at me. He said, we'll start with you. I let him know that I'm in the house. I'm a Palestinian-American E.R. doctor, that I was in Gaza in Khan Yunis in January and at that hospital. And what I saw to Khan Yunis was devastating. I mean, that hospital was the largest remaining hospital in Gaza at the time. It was overwhelmed with people who had been injured in airstrikes. And there was 10,000 people sheltering in and around the hospital. You cannot walk in that hospital without seeing families sheltering in the hallways. And I said all of those people after that hospital was surrounded and shut down and raided. They went to Rafah, hundreds of thousands of people went to Rafah to make a 1.7 1.8 million people there. Anybody that's communicating with you and telling you that there's a strategic or tactical way to do this, to do a military operation in Rafah is lying to you. I can tell you that firsthand. I was in Rafah. I was in Khan Yunis. It would be a bloodbath. It would be a massacre. There is no way to do this in. The war has to stop. There has to be a cease fire. When did you walk out and what did you say to him? Right. As soon as I had finished communicating the urgency with respect to what's going on in Rafah, I looked at him. I said, out of respect for the Palestinian community, people who are mourning, who are grieving the tremendous loss of life in Gaza, I have to get up and leave this meeting. But before I do that, I want to give you this letter from an eight year old Hadeel. She's an orphan in Gaza in Rafah, staying in a camp, and she wrote him a letter and I wanted to give it to you. And I gave him a picture of her as well as the letter. And the letter basically begged President Biden to do whatever he could to make sure that there was no invasion of Rafah by the Israelis. And what did he say to you? He looked at the picture and then he said he understood. And then I walked out. Did you know you were going to do that ahead of time? You know, initially when I had heard that, I would have an opportunity, along with other medical professionals, to brief the president about the situation on the ground. I thought this was my chance to be able to at least communicate what I saw and to elevate the stories of the people that I interacted with. But over the course of a week, all of these different stories broke. There's more fighter jets being sold, £2,000 bombs being transferred. There's John Kirby just tenaciously and passionately defending the Israeli military after what happened to World Central Kitchen conflict. I mean, for me, it really was upsetting and it enraged me. But I wanted to make sure that I was calm, I was collected. I was able to deliver a message. But to also walk away from an administration that I feel has walked away from my people. What's your biggest concern right now with the war? I mean, it's gone on for six months. There has been no reprieve. And we're talking about a famine in the north and an invasion in the south. I cannot imagine what it looks like. But Gaza is hell on earth and I need to whatever we can do, everybody in our community is doing whatever they can to shout at the top of their lungs that there cannot be an invasion. There needs to be a cease fire. But it's not just about the bombs not dropping. It's not just about planes not flying overhead. It's about getting food and water and medicine inside and getting people who need to be medically evacuated. The more than 9000 of them getting them out and getting them some treatment. I mean, all of Gaza has been devastated and it's basically unlivable at this point. That needs to change. As you said, it's it's hell on earth. But you're going back. Yeah. I mean, I have to go back. I think many Palestinian Americans like myself, we have this tremendous amount of survivor's guilt. We're living here. We're living very comfortably. And people who look like us, who could have easily we could have easily been in their position, are suffering immensely. At the very minimum, we need to be over there and do what we can. I'm a physician. I should go and practice medicine over there. Other people who can help in other ways. I'm sure that if they get the opportunity, they would do something similar. Dr. Thaer, we really appreciate your time. Thank you for being with us. Thank you.
