UK media regulator Ofcom has declared BBC in "serious breach" of guidelines, the news outlet admitted Friday.
Ofcom also ordered BBC to broadcast a prime-time statement detailing its conclusions.
In a statement, Ofcom said, "An Ofcom investigation has today found that the BBC documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone broke broadcasting rules which state that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience."
"Ofcom received 20 complaints which had completed the 'BBC First' process. Our investigation also considered the findings from the BBC’s own internal review, which concluded that the programme had breached its Editorial Guidelines on accuracy."
It added: "Our investigation found that the programme’s failure to disclose that the narrator’s father held a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading. It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he provided."
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC. This failing had the potential to erode the significantly high levels of trust that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war.
"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."
BBC responded: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy ... We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
The film aimed to portray the perspective of three children in Gaza during the war. The narrator, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, aged 14, turned out to be the son of Ayman Al-Yazouri, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
Throughout the film, no information regarding the narrator's connection to Hamas was provided, and it remains unclear if the film crew was aware that he was the son of a Hamas Deputy Minister.
The apology stated that the network "was not informed by the independent producers" about this information.
In July, the BBCreleased the findings of its internal investigation into a controversial documentary about children in Gaza, acknowledging significant journalistic shortcomings and editorial failures.
The report concluded that the program, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone?, breached the editorial guidelines on accuracy. The documentary was removed from iPlayer in February after it was discovered that its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a senior Hamas official, Ayman Al-Yazouri, who serves as the group’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
According to the review, three members of the external production company, Hoyo Films, were aware of the narrator's family ties to Hamas but failed to inform the BBC. While the network was unaware of this connection at the time of broadcast, the review criticized the BBC for not being "sufficiently proactive" in its editorial checks.
The investigation assigned primary responsibility to Hoyo Films but acknowledged that the BBC also fell short in its duty to verify key facts prior to airing.
In response, BBC Director-General Tim Davie vowed to strengthen editorial oversight to prevent similar failures. “We are taking this seriously and will implement changes to ensure such errors are not repeated,” he said in a statement.
Hoyo Films also issued a response, pledging to improve its internal review processes to avoid future issues.
The fallout sparked strong criticism, particularly from Israeli officials. Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel renewed her call for Davie’s resignation, stating:
“This is not an isolated incident, but part of a systemic problem. The BBC must uphold standards of fairness and accuracy. Its repeated failures only deepen mistrust and contribute to rising antisemitism.”
Haskel also referenced previous controversies involving the BBC, including its handling of coverage during the Glastonbury Festival, where she alleges the network aired "calls for death against Israel." She warned that continued editorial lapses risk entrenching institutional bias.
Independent journalist David Collier further escalated concerns, claiming that one of the documentary's producers is a Palestinian activist who publicly celebrated the October 7 Hamas attacks. He also alleged that portions of the film were staged and noted inconsistencies in the identity presented by the child narrator in past media appearances - including an interview with Channel 4 in November 2023, where the boy reportedly used a different surname and misidentified his father.
The BBC previously issued a public apology in February and confirmed the documentary would not return to its platforms.