🔗 Share this article British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom. An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive". The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness". The authority has instructed the corporation to transmit a evening statement about its findings. "As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," it said. 'Potential to Undermine Confidence' The authority's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's omission to reveal that the narrator's father occupied a post in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading. "This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the information he presented. "Trust is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation. "This failing had the potential to erode the significantly high levels of credibility that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war." The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy. A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations. "We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."