THEY’RE FREE: 41 total hostages released so far – 13 Israeli, 4 Thai hostages released Saturday night

The second group of hostages was released from Hamas captivity late Saturday night after an initial delay. 

Thirteen Israeli captives were freed, along with 4 Thai men who had been working in Israel during the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7. 

The Israeli hostages included 5 women and 8 children, the youngest being 3-year-old Yahel Shoham. 

The Shoham family was captured together on Oct. 7, and the father, Tal Shoham, remains in captivity in Gaza. 

One of the hostages, Maya Regev, who was taken from the Nova rave party in Kibbutz Re’im, in which 364 people were murdered, was recovering from a gunshot injury to her leg, which is now being treated at Soroka Hospital in Beersheva. Officials said her injury is not life-threatening, but she does need surgery. 

Maya’s brother, Itai, remains in captivity in Gaza. 

Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades accused Israel of violating the agreed terms of the hostage release deal in regard to the delivery of aid into Gaza and the release of prisoners. 

Israel agreed to allow 200 humanitarian aid trucks per day into the Gaza Strip as part of the deal. 

On Friday, 137 aid trucks entered, and by 4 p.m. on Saturday, when the captives were supposed to be released, 133 trucks had entered. Another 52 trucks entered after 4 p.m., bringing the total number of trucks to 185 for the day. 

The trucks carrying the aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Border Crossing, which is controlled by Egypt on Israel's southern border.

Israel denied violating the terms of the agreement. Israel's war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and National Unity party head Benny Gantz, met on Saturday night to discuss options if the captives were not released. 

Hamas explicitly violated the terms of the agreement by separating mothers and children during the hostage release. The group released 13-year-old Hila Rotem-Shoshani but kept her mother Raaya Rotem as a hostage in Gaza.

One of the captives, 9-year-old Emily Hand, initially presumed dead after the horrific attacks of Oct, 7, was reunited with her father.

The U.S. Biden administration expressed disappointment that no U.S. citizens have been released so far. 

“We're disappointed that we haven't seen the Americans on the list yet, but we're hopeful for the next two days,” an administration official told NBC News. 

The official said the United States is also hoping to maintain the temporary pause in fighting so that more hostages can be released

“The U.S. hopes we can maintain the ceasefire and release of prisoners because we want all the hostages outside.” 

At the time of publication, a third list of captives, to be released on Sunday evening, had reportedly been sent to Netanyahu’s office.