The public service broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the corporation to broadcast a peak-time statement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's report said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's family links were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
