The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to air a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high levels of confidence that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
