The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The authority's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent held a position in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the very considerable degrees of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's family links came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
