The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas official, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the relationship between a television network and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the organization's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
