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The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".

The regulator has instructed the BBC to air a peak-time statement about its conclusions.

"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a message of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.

'Risk to Damage Credibility'

The regulator's statement said: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading.

"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the narrator and the content he provided.

"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.

"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable degrees of trust that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."

The film was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the narrator's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.

A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."