BBC Gaza documentary a 'serious' breach of rules, Ofcom says
BBC Gaza documentary a 'serious' breach of rules, Ofcom says
The BBC committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official, UK media regulator Ofcom has ruled.
An Ofcom investigation into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general has previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the BBC to broadcast a prime-time statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be confirmed," it said.
It is the first time the BBC has received a sanction from Ofcom and been ordered to make an on-air apology since 2009.
The documentary centred on a 13-year-old son of Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.
Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK, Israel and others.
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