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The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".

The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".

The authority has instructed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.

"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the BBC to transmit a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the statement read.

'Risk to Erode Trust'

The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.

"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the information he shared.

"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This oversight had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."

The film was removed from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.

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 serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."