The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the BBC to broadcast a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's report said: "Our probe determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
