The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the BBC to air a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The regulator's statement stated: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
