🔗 Share this article British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, States Ofcom The BBC committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom. An probe by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate". The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy". The authority has instructed the BBC to air a evening announcement about its conclusions. "Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," it said. 'Potential to Undermine Trust' The watchdog's report said: "Our probe determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate. "Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the narrator and the details he shared. "Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster. "This oversight had the potential to damage the very considerable amounts of confidence that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict." The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's family links emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy. A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations. "We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."