The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to transmit a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's statement stated: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's family links were revealed, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
