A leading Republican lawmaker has sent a letter to Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates he faces sanctions and jail time over a business interest in Qatar.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) warned Gates over his ownership stake in a Four Seasons hotel in the country, which has hosted the Islamic terror group Hamas. His warning letter comes days after fighters from Hamas launched a rocket-filled surprise attack against Israel, killing nearly 1,100 citizens and leading the Jewish state to declare war on the organization.
“Bill Gates owns the Four Seasons which has hosted Hamas – a declared terrorist organization- at its Doha resort,” Waltz, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote on the X platform.
“Allowing these terrorists to use his hotels is a violation of the law,” Waltz added. “You’re on notice.”
Bill Gates owns the Four Seasons which has hosted Hamas – a declared terrorist organization- at its Doha resort.
Allowing these terrorists to use his hotels is a violation of the law. You’re on notice. https://t.co/eNx4AkJKiZ
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) October 17, 2023
The New York Post added:
Hamas’ political wing has previously hosted events at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, including a 2016 reception with then-Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and a 2015 press conference by senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashal.
Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the Hamas Politburo, has also stayed at the luxury resort and has been accused by a member of Israel’s Foreign Ministry of “lounging” there while overseeing the barbaric Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as ordering Palestinians to be blocked from leaving the Gaza Strip before an anticipated ground invasion by the Israel Defense Forces.
The Four Seasons said in an Oct. 15 statement that “Haniyeh is not living at or staying at Four Seasons Hotel Doha,” but did not elaborate or respond when contacted by media outlets.
The New York Post also reported that Waltz said Gates could be subjected to “counterterrorism sanctions” if he refuses to comply with instructions to bar Haniyeh from the hotel.
Cascade Investment, LLC, which is Gates’ company, bought a majority stake in the hotel in 2021, scooping up 23.7 percent from Saudi Arabian billionaire Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, The Post noted.
“Others have allegedly stayed there since, including during and after Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack that has so far resulted in at least 1,400 people killed in Israel, 3,400 others wounded, and 199 kidnapped,” Waltz wrote in a letter Tuesday to Gates.
“At least 260 people alone were killed at a music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. The State Department has confirmed that so far 30 US citizens have been killed with another 13 unaccounted for,” the letter continued. “There is credible reporting of beheaded infants, people burned alive, others raped, still others likely to be tortured, with their agony broadcast, during the weeks ahead.”
The congressman and former Army Green Beret officer also said that giving “material support” to the terrorist group would subject the Microsoft mogul to “legal penalties, including up to life in prison.”
“Perhaps more immediately, it mandates a broad exclusion from the United States any non-US persons that engages in terrorist activity, including through actions like providing material support, such as housing, for terrorists,” he wrote.
