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The BBC was found to have committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".

The authority has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its conclusions.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.

'Potential to Undermine Credibility'

The regulator's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.

"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he presented.

"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.

"This oversight had the possibility to erode the very considerable levels of credibility that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.

A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are determined."