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The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".

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

Ofcom has directed the corporation to transmit a evening declaration about its conclusions.

"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the statement read.

'Potential to Damage Confidence'

The authority's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's father occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.

"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he presented.

"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.

"This failing had the possibility to erode the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."

The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.

A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the date and language are determined."