A BBC documentary about children’s lives in Gaza narrated by the 13-year-old son of a Hamas official breached its editorial guidelines on accuracy by not disclosing the “critical information” of the boy’s father’s identity, an internal review by the British public broadcaster said on Monday.

The broadcaster said that its internal review, carried out independently of the news department, found no other breaches of editorial guidelines and no evidence that outside interests “inappropriately impacted on the program.”

The BBC removed “Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone” from its online platform in February, five days after it was broadcast, saying it had “serious flaws.” The documentary was made by independent production company HOYO Films.

A review found the program breached a guideline on accuracy that deals with misleading audiences.

“Careful consideration of the requirements of due impartiality was undertaken in this project given the highly contested nature of the subject matter,” the review found.

However, the review said the role of the narrator’s father was “critical information,” which was not shared with the BBC ahead of the broadcast.

“Regardless of how the significance or otherwise of the Narrator’s father’s position was judged, the audience should have been informed about this,” said the report by Peter Johnston, BBC Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the report identified a significant failing in relation to accuracy.

“We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated,” Davie said in a statement.

The review also said, among a number of recommendations, that the BBC will issue new editorial guidance on the translation of the word “Yahud/Yahudi” into English and that staff should now default to using the literal translation of those terms as “Jews/Jewish.”

All mentions of the word had been translated to “Israelis” or “Israeli forces” in the documentary.

“Given the serious editorial breach identified in the production of Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, we do not think it is appropriate to reinstate the program in its current form to iPlayer,” the broadcaster said, referring to its online streaming tool.

“However, as we said at the time, it is important to tell the story of what is happening in Gaza, despite BBC News being prevented from reporting independently on the ground,” the report said.

Last month, the BBC also announced that it had decided not to air a documentary about doctors working in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, citing concerns over impartiality following public remarks by the production team accusing Israel of war crimes.

The documentary, “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” was commissioned by the BBC and produced by the independent company Basement Films. It was initially slated for broadcast in February but has not been aired on any BBC platform.

The British public broadcaster said in a statement it was “determined to report all aspects of the conflict in the Middle East impartially and fairly,” and confirmed it had chosen to transfer ownership of the film material back to the production company.

In its statement, the BBC said it had commissioned the documentary over a year ago but paused the film in April, “having made a decision that we could not broadcast the film while a review into a separate Gaza documentary was ongoing,” referring to the probe into “Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone.”

In a statement, Basement Films said it was “relieved that the BBC will finally allow this film to be released.” The company is now expected to distribute the film independently.

The BBC has faced heavy scrutiny over the past 18 months for what many perceive to be an anti-Israel slant to its coverage of the war in Gaza, including its continued employment of a Gazan journalist who posted virulently antisemitic content on social media, and the recent resignation of high-profile presenter Gary Lineker after he shared an antisemitic Instagram story.

The broadcaster has been widely criticized by supporters of Israel for its refusal to describe Hamas as terrorists, even though the group’s military wing is proscribed by the United Kingdom as such, and even after the widespread documentation of its systematic targeting of civilians on October 7, 2023.

However, the broadcaster has also faced widespread criticism from pro-Palestinian groups who have accused it  of being a mouthpiece for Israel.