Clooney fiancée Alamuddin turns down UN Gaza probe appointment

A number of Hollywood gossip websites reported Monday that Amal Alamuddin, the British human rights lawyer better known (for better or worse) as actor George Clooney’s fiancée, has turned down her appointment to serve on the UN Human Rights Council probe into the Gaza conflict.

Alamuddin released a statement saying that she is too busy with eight other cases and cannot take on the UN position.

“I wish my colleagues who will serve on the commission courage and strength in their endeavours,” she wrote.

US actor George Clooney (L) attending the 2013 BAFTA LA Jaguar Britannia Awards presented by BBC America at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 9, 2013. Laywer Amal Alamuddin (R) attending a press conference in London on November 5, 2012. (photo credit: (photo credit: AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR/JUSTIN TALLIS)

Those in the pro-Israel camp — Jerusalem already slammed the panel as a kangaroo commission — shouldn’t think the Lebanese-born lawyer has joined their side, though.

“I am horrified by the situation in the occupied Gaza Strip, particularly the civilian causalities that have been caused, and strongly believe that there should be an independent investigation and accountability for crimes that have been committed,” she wrote.

Earlier in the night, UN Watch, a watchdog organization, released a statement suggesting that she may have been added to the panel for the publicity she would bring.