The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," it said.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The watchdog's report said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a television network and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the exceptionally strong degrees of trust that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
