🔗 Share this article BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Serious' Violation of Media Rules, Declares Ofcom The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom. An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading". The head of the BBC had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy". Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time statement about its findings. "As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," it said. 'Risk to Undermine Trust' The authority's statement said: "Our probe determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive. "It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented. "Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation. "This error had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza." The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness. A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards. "We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and language are confirmed."