The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to transmit a evening declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The regulator's statement said: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable degrees of trust that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the boy's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
