The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to air a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The authority's announcement said: "Our probe determined that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's father served in a position in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it infringed the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
