The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are ordering the corporation to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The authority's announcement declared: "Our probe determined that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's father served in a role in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the risk to damage the very considerable amounts of trust that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
