(CBrief) – A Republican lawmaker called out billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates over his ownership stake in a luxury hotel in the country of Qatar following Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel earlier this month.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) noted that the hotel in question has hosted the Islamic terrorist organization, according to reports.
“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, said in a social media post.
The Florida congressman’s post comes on the heels of reports that Ismail Haniyeh, the senior political leader for Hamas, is currently living at the hotel to hide from retaliatory strikes by Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre that left more than 1,000 Israeli citizens dead.
“Allowing these terrorists to use his hotels is a violation of the law,” Waltz continued. “You’re on notice.”
The New York Post reported that Waltz said Gates could be subjected to “counterterrorism sanctions” if he refuses to comply with instructions to bar Haniyeh from the hotel.
“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,” The Post reported.
“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 outlet’s report continued.
Hotel officials claimed on Oct. 15 that “Haniyeh is not living at or staying at Four Seasons Hotel Doha,” but they did not respond to The Post’s questions about previous stays and for how long.
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.
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
“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 providing “material support” to Hamas would subject Gates 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.
Waltz also warned that the Microsoft mogul’s name could be included in the National Counterterrorism Center and the State Department’s visa database. It could also be placed on the Transportation Security Administration’s “Do Not Fly” list for the hotel having aided and abetted Hamas.
“Though the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security can issue exemptions for certain limited material support, among other things, as a matter of policy these can be reversed by a future administration,” Waltz noted further, adding that, at one point, some 1.6 million people had been added to various federal databases for their alleged assistance to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“An affirmative finding by the government may not be communicated to you or them immediately, but rather revealed through either an indictment, through a future refusal of entry at a US port, or some other action,” Waltz said. “I would advise you to socialize this knowledge with the staff of Cascade Investment, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and your Four Seasons hotel in Doha.”
conservativebrief.com/youre-on-77286/
