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The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.

An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".

Ofcom has instructed the corporation to transmit a evening announcement about its conclusions.

"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.

'Risk to Erode Credibility'

The regulator's report said: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's parent occupied a post in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.

"This implied that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.

"Confidence is at the core of the connection between a media organization and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.

"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of credibility that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The documentary was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review found it infringed the organization's content policies on truthfulness.

A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in complete. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."