Local charity staff trapped in Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, stormed by Israeli soldiers

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Dozens of patients have died after oxygen ran out in the intensive care unit at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. Israel Defense Forces are searching the facility for Hamas terrorists and weapons.

As squadrons from the IDF move into Al-Shifa, commanders say the hospital was also a Hamas arsenal, with weapons and ammo hidden inside medical equipment; allegedly a front for terrorist operatives. A Chicago humanitarian group with medical staff there says patients are dying.

Some patients from Al-Shifa were evacuated, but a hospital official says 43 out of the 63 intensive care patients have died from lack of medical oxygen.

Staff from Chicago Ridge-based humanitarian charity MedGlobal are among those toughing it out at Al-Shifa.

"I probably would not call it a hospital anymore. I would just call it really a structure or a building," said Dr. Thaer Ahmad, MedGlobal board member and volunteer. "People who are not getting the care that they need are going to be dying very slow and painful deaths unless there's an intervention that takes place."

Israeli commanders said they've found Hamas weapons in the hospital, including machine guns and extended magazines.

"We've found evidence of military use of Hamas terrorists, and these include different military munitions inside the MRI rooms, including AK-47's," said IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler.

He says the IDF is taking steps to try to ensure innocent patients in the hospital are not killed.

"We have left the eastern part of the hospital as a route for civilians and patients to leave when they can. We have offered fuel for the hospital that will go specifically for the use of the patients that are in need. We brought incubators this morning for the hospital to use. But sadly, as we know, Hamas is the one that continuously uses all these different materials to gain for each terrorist activity," said Shefler.

"We're all over the world. And I think that's why we've taken such a deep interest in the Gaza Strip right now. It's by far the worst humanitarian catastrophe we've seen in our line of work," said Dr. Ahmad.

IDF soldiers remained inside Al-Shifa Hospital Wednesday night. No hostages or apparent tunnels found there, although the IDF spokesperson said the hospital "could have been a potential place for holding hostages." A negotiated deal for the release of some of the 240 hostages appears to be progressing. One U.S. official involved in the hostage effort says a tactical recovery operation is not off the table.