The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to air a prime-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to erode the significantly high amounts of trust that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
