The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement said: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the information he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and language are finalised."
