The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to broadcast a evening statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
