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The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.

An inquiry by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".

The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".

The regulator has directed the broadcaster to air a evening declaration about its findings.

"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be confirmed," the statement read.

'Potential to Erode Confidence'

The watchdog's announcement declared: "Our investigation found that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's parent served in a role in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.

"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.

"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.

"This error had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of trust that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."

The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We have apologised for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."