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The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.

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

The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".

The regulator has directed the corporation to broadcast a prime-time statement about its decisions.

"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.

'Risk to Undermine Trust'

The regulator's report declared: "Our probe found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.

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

"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a media organization and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the potential to undermine the significantly high levels of confidence that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."

The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the organization's content policies on factual correctness.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and language are finalised."