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The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".

Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its conclusions.

"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.

'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'

The authority's statement declared: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-run administration was substantially inaccurate.

"Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he provided.

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

"This oversight had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."

The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review concluded it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on factual correctness.

A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."