The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the BBC to air a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Potential to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent served in a position in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review found it violated the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
