The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the online platform in last February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A corporation official commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
