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The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.

An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".

The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time statement about its conclusions.

"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.

'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'

The watchdog's report stated: "Our probe determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the voice's father occupied a post in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.

"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the details he presented.

"Trust is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the potential to erode the significantly high levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the schedule and language are determined."