The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the BBC to transmit a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our investigation found that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to erode the very considerable levels of credibility that audiences would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and wording are determined."
