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The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

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

The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".

The regulator has ordered the corporation to transmit a evening declaration about its findings.

"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.

'Possibility to Undermine Trust'

The regulator's announcement said: "Our probe determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent served in a role in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.

"Consequently that the audience did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he presented.

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

"This failing had the possibility to damage the very considerable levels of trust that audiences would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."

The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.

A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and language are confirmed."