The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The authority's statement declared: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's parent held a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the voice and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high amounts of credibility that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's family links emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
