The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the corporation 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 finalised," it said.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the core of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that audiences would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from the online platform in February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the authority's determination in complete. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
