The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to air a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the corporation to air a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our investigation concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong degrees of trust that the public would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
