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The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".

The regulator has directed the broadcaster to transmit a evening announcement about its decisions.

"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be confirmed," the statement read.

'Potential to Erode Trust'

The regulator's report declared: "Our investigation found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the voice's father held a post in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.

"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the voice and the content he shared.

"Confidence is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.

"This error had the potential to erode the significantly high amounts of credibility that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."

The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.

A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."