🔗 Share this article British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter 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 broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading". The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy". The regulator has instructed the corporation to broadcast a evening declaration about its decisions. "As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the BBC to transmit a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated. 'Possibility to Erode Confidence' The watchdog's announcement declared: "Our investigation determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's father held a position in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading. "Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he presented. "Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation. "This error had the potential to erode the very considerable degrees of credibility that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict." The documentary was pulled from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness. A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations. "We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the timing and language are finalised."