The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the corporation to broadcast a evening statement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information 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 broadcaster and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the very considerable degrees of trust that audiences would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
