The has apologised and admitted “serious flaws” in the making of a documentary about children’s lives in Gaza.
The documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, was pulled from iPlayer last week after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
It said it has “no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer”.
Hoyo Films, the production company that made the documentary for the , said it felt it was “important to hear from voices that haven’t been represented onscreen throughout the war with dignity and respect”.
The company added it was “cooperating fully” with the to “help understand where mistakes have been made”.
The removed the documentary after concerns were raised that it centred on a boy called Abdullah who is the son of Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture. Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK and others.
It also launched a review into the film, and the ‘s Board met earlier on Thursday to discuss it.
In the statement, a spokesperson said both the production company and the had made “unacceptable” flaws and that it “takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the corporation’s reputation”.
It added the had not been informed of the teenager’s family connection in advance by the film’s production company.
The spokesperson says: “During the production process, the independent production company was asked in writing a number of times by the about any potential connections he and his family might have with Hamas.
“Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy’s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the this fact.
“It was then the ‘s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.”
Hoyo Films have told the corporation that they paid the young boy’s mother “a limited sum of money” for narrating the film via his sister’s bank account, the statement added.
It said Hoyo assured the that no payments were made to any members of Hamas or its affiliates “either directly, in kind or as a gift”, and that it is seeking “additional assurance” around the programme’s budget.
In its statement, Hoyo added: “We feel this remains an important story to tell, and that our contributors – who have no say in the war – should have their voices heard”.
A full audit of the expenditure on the film will be undertaken by the , and it will be asking for the relevant financial accounts of Hoyo Films so this can be carried out.
The spokesperson said the incident had “damaged” the trust in the Corporation’s journalism – and “the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations”.
They added the director-general of the had asked for complaints “to be expedited to the Editorial Complaints Unit, which is separate from News”.
A separate statement from the Board added: “The subject matter of the documentary was clearly a legitimate area to explore, but nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. While the Board appreciates that mistakes can be made, the mistakes here are significant and damaging to the .”
Earlier this week, the was criticised for pulling the programme by more than 500 media figures, including Gary Lineker, Anita Rani and Riz Ahmed.