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The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".

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

The regulator has instructed the corporation to air a evening declaration about its findings.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.

'Risk to Undermine Confidence'

The authority's statement stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.

"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the information he provided.

"Trust is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.

"This failing had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong degrees of trust that the public would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."

The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the organization's content policies on accuracy.

A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."