Malaysia Airlines. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – An Israeli citizen was among the 298 people killed on Thursday when a Malaysia Airlines plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down in eastern Ukraine.

Former Israel Defense Force soldier Itamar Avnon, 27, died in the plane crash. U.S. President Barack Obama said the plane was likely shot down by a surface-to-air missile launched by pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, my son Itamar was on the plane that crashed over the Ukraine. He was on his way back to Australia after a trip to Holland. He served in the paratroopers and fought in Operation Cast Lead but died in a plane crash,” Itamar’s father, Dov Avnon, said on Facebook.