Two-year-old boy was killed in 1982 terror attack.

Italy's president Sergio Mattarella attended a ceremony at the city's Great Synagogue on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1982 attack in which a two-year-old boy died and 37 were injured.

In the attack, Palestinian terrorists threw hand grenades and opened fire with machine guns on worshippers leaving the synagogue after Shemini Atzeret services just before midday on 9 October 1982.

Two-year-old Stefano Gaj Taché was killed in the attack, after being hit by shrapnel, and his four-year-old brother Gadiel Taché was among the 37 civilians injured.

#9ottobre 1982 attentato alla Sinagoga di Roma da parte di terroristi palestinesi in un giorno solenne in cui viene impartita la benedizione ai bambini. Morì Stefano Gaj Taché di 2 anni e rimasero ferite 40 persone. Da allora il nostro animo è segnato da una ferita indelebile. pic.twitter.com/vxDP912hIs

— Comunità Ebraica di Roma (@romaebraica) October 9, 2022

During his inaugural speech to parliament on becoming head of state on 3 February 2015, Mattarella addressed the theme of terrorism, noting that Italy had "paid the price of hate and intolerance" several times in a "not too distant past".

"I want to remember only one name: Stefano Taché, killed in the vile terrorist attack on the synagogue in Rome" - Mattarella said - "He was only two years old. He was our child, an Italian child."

Photo Corriere della Sera