Chef and humanitarian Jos Andrs has accused Israel of deliberately launching the airstrikes that killed seven aid workers with his World Central Kitchen charity in Gaza, calling the incident a direct attack on humanitarian workers trying to provide food and supplies to desperate Palestinians.

In a New York Times opinion article published early Wednesday, the world-renowned chef paid tribute to the workers who were killed in Mondays attack, saying they were the best of humanity. One of the victims was Palestinian. The others came from Australia, Poland, Britain, Canada and the United States.

Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right, he wrote. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.

World Central Kitchen, Andrs aid group that helps provide food in conflict and disaster zones, began delivering food aid in northern Gaza last month via a maritime corridor from Cyprus. Since then, the chef said, the charity has served more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot meals in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.

Israel faced widespread anger after troops launched multiple airstrikes on a convoy of three vehicles that had just dropped off 100 tons of food in Deir al-Balah in an effort to fight Gazas starvation crisis.

The vehicles had a clearly visible WCK logo on their roofs so that the military would be aware the cars were full of aid workers. WCK said it was also in constant communication with Israeli military and civilian officials so that they were aware of the vehicles movements.

It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces, Andrs wrote. It was also the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels.