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The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".

The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".

Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening statement about its conclusions.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be determined," it said.

'Possibility to Erode Credibility'

The authority's statement declared: "Our investigation determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.

"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he provided.

"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a media organization and its public, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This oversight had the potential to erode the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.

A corporation official stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."