The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to air a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The regulator's report said: "Our investigation found that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent served in a post in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's family links came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
