The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the BBC to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our probe found that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the details he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of credibility that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the organization's content policies on truthfulness.
A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight 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 expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
