The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to transmit a peak-time statement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our probe determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's father occupied a role in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable amounts of credibility that viewers would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
