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The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.

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

The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".

The regulator has instructed the corporation to transmit a evening declaration about its conclusions.

"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.

'Possibility to Erode Trust'

The authority's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's father occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.

"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the details he provided.

"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.

"This failing had the risk to undermine the significantly high levels of trust that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."

The documentary was pulled from the online platform in last February after the narrator's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it infringed the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.

A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."