The BBC was found to have committed a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The authority's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's parent served in a position in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
