WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden will host Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Friday for the annual St. Patrick's Day reception at the White House, even as a portion of the usual Irish delegation boycotts the event over Biden's handling of the war in Gaza.

During a speech in Boston on Tuesday, Varadkar said he will use the opportunity to tell Biden "how Irish people feel, and that is that we want to see a ceasefire immediately, for the killing to stop, the hostages to be released without condition, food and medicine to get into Gaza."