Ofcom sanctions BBC as they find Gaza documentary breached broadcasting code

It omitted details considered 'materially misleading'

The regulator uncovered that the BBC had failed to mention that the 13-year-old boy that narrated the documentary was the son of a deputy minister in the Hamas-run government.

Ofcom deemed that failure to mention this fact was in breach of the broadcasting code, saying that it was "materially misleading" not to mention it.

The documentary, called Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, was made by Hoyo films, an independent production company.

It features 13-year-old Abdullah Alyazouri who speaks about what it is like living in Gaza while the war between Israel and Hamas rages.

It was later pulled from BBC iPlayer, after it was discovered that the boy was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.

In July of this year, the BBC later said it had breached its own editorial guidelines by not disclosing the full information about the child's identity.

The BBC's own internal review found that three members of the production knew about the boy's father while no one at the BBC was aware.

Meanwhile, Ofcom's review into the documentary summarised that the audience was deprived of "critical information" which was potentially "highly relevant" to the portrayal of the boy and the information he provided.

It added that the links to Hamas "had the potential to erode the very high levels of trust that audiences would have expected in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war".

An apology followed from the BBC and Hoyo films.

The latter said it was "working closely with the BBC" to see if it could find a way to bring back parts of the documentary to iPlayer.

It added: "Our team in Gaza risked their lives to document the devastating impact of war on children.

"Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone remains a vital account, and our contributors, who have no say in the conflict, deserve to have their voices heard."

Israel forbids international news organisations into Gaza to report independently.

In response to the breach, Ofcom have ordered the BBC to broadcast a statement detailing the findings of their review on BBC2 at 9pm, although a date is not confirmed.

Responding to the review's findings, a BBC spokesperson said: "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, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"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."