The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to air a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the core of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in last February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
