An Israeli F-16A fighter jet crashed in the West Bank on Sunday afternoon, killing a son of late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon who died in the 2003 Columbia spaceship tragedy, the Israeli army said.

"The aircraft crashed during a routine flight as part of the advanced pilot training course," said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in a statement, adding that search and rescue teams found debris of the fighter in the hills near the West Bank city of Hebron.