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The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".

The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".

The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a evening statement about its conclusions.

"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.

'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'

The regulator's announcement said: "Our probe concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.

"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the narrator and the content he provided.

"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.

"This failing had the risk to damage the significantly high amounts of credibility that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."

The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review found it infringed the organization's content policies on factual correctness.

A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."