EXCLUSIVE – Israeli security expert, mother and veteran Sarit Zehavi, who has dedicated her life to protecting Israeli borders, said the terror attacks on Saturday were far worse than what she long considered the "worst-case scenario" for her people, who have made endured a culture of living under constant threat.

"This is something that I never imagined," Zehavi told Fox News Digital. "I thought that this will be stopped immediately. I didn't imagine that many infiltrators at the same time, to so many places."

Zehavi sent away her children to the center of the small country – Israel is slightly larger than the state of New Jersey – since the war between Israel and Hamas started.

"This is the surprise that we had. But in general, the fact that the terrorist organizations on our borders are planning to invade and to launch barrages of rockets, thousands of rockets to the state of Israel, it's not news. I raised my kids in the north under the threat of these rockets," she said. "Now my kids, by the way, are not here. I sent them to the center of Israel few days ago because I knew this is coming." 

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On Saturday, Hamas terrorists committed the worst attack on Israel in its 75-year history, killing at least 1,200, many of them civilians, and taking upwards of 150 hostages. The attack came from Gaza in the south, after Zehavi and others spent years preparing for attacks from the north.

"I didn't believe that the same thing can happen from the south," she said.

After spending 15 years in the Israeli Defense Forces, Zehavi founded the Israeli nonprofit Alma, which specializes in educating on Israel’s security challenges along its northern border. She spoke to Fox News Digital from Tefen Industrial Park in Western Galilee, only 12 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border, with constant alerts going off as Israeli residents in her area were told to shelter in place amid reports of an incoming "large-scale" drone attack as other terror groups look to join Hamas.

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"The border of the north is not quiet. Soldiers already got killed. We had few attacks with anti-tanks, with rockets, with the infiltration of terrorists. And if we will not be completely prepared on northern border, we're going to get the same catastrophe that happened in the south," Zehavi said.

"Now this is very clear. On the other side of the border is Hamas, there is Palestinian Islamic jihad, and mainly there is Hezbollah," Zehavi explained. "And the military capabilities of Hezbollah are ten times more… than the military capabilities of Hamas."

Israelis already witnessed unspeakable acts of terrorism committed by Hamas during Saturday’s devastating attack, and Zehavi is concerned Hezbollah terrorists are even more capable. 

"The terrorists are much more experienced because they were fighting in Syria in the civil war. They are not only trained, they are experienced and motivated… They are also crazy lunatics with high military capabilities, and they're already starting to shoot at us."

Zehavi believes Iran is the "the mastermind in this campaign," and the only surprise was where the assault originated.

Israel requires every Jewish citizen who is over the age of 18 to serve in the IDF. Druze and Circassian men are also required to serve, and Israelis who don’t fall into these groups can volunteer. But for Jewish citizens, serving in IDF is a way of life that most are proud to embrace. 

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"It’s a commitment, we are obliged to serve in the army," she said. "Many people, those who are not in the Army, volunteer to assist. There is so much that could be done to assist the soldiers, to assist the civilians that are under fire. It’s so important."

Zehavi is grateful that the United States has stood with Israel, but urged Americans not to forget the atrocities that occurred on Saturday. 

"After we will move from defense to offense in order to eliminate the risk to the state of Israel and to the citizens of Israel -- don't forget how all of that started. Don't forget why we are doing what we're doing, because radical ideologies Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad cannot exist next to innocent civilians. Eventually they kill them," she said.

Fox News’ Greg Norman and David Rutz contributed to this report. 

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Harvard president Claudine Gay released a video Thursday evening as the university reels from backlash following a pro-Palestinian statement signed by dozens of student groups holding Israel "entirely responsible" for Hamas' terrorist attacks on the country and the subsequent violence unfolding in the region.

Gay's video, which was titled "Our Choices," began with her describing the Israel-Hamas war as a "moment of intense pain and grief for a great many people in our community and around the world," to which she added that she is experiencing the same feelings.

She continued by saying members of the Harvard community have a choice to either "fan the flames of division and hatred" or to "try to be a force for something different and better."

"People have asked me where we stand. So let me be clear. Our university rejects terrorism. That includes the barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Our university rejects hate. Hate of Jews. Hate of Muslims. Hate of any group of people based on their faith, their national origin, or any aspect of their identity. Our University rejects the harassment or intimidation of individuals based on their beliefs," Gay said.

HARVARD STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS CLAIM ISRAEL 'ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE' FOR GAZA ATTACKS

On Saturday, not long after Hamas launched its unprecedented terrorist attacks on Israel, 34 student organizations signed a statement issued by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups that began by blaming the "Israeli regime" for "all unfolding violence." 

It continued, "Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence."

As of Wednesday, at least five of the groups had withdrawn their support of the statement.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

After days of silence and nationwide backlash toward the university for not addressing the statement, Gay released a five-sentence message on Tuesday stating that she does condemn Hamas' attacks, but she did not explicitly denounce the student groups' controversial opinion.

Instead she wrote, "Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership."

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In Thursday's message, Gay said that Harvard "embraces a commitment to free expression," which "extends even to views that many of us find objectionable, even outrageous." She said that though the university does not "punish or sanction" people for expressing polarizing views, it does not mean that it endorses them.

She continued: "We can issue public pronouncements, declaring the rightness of our own points of view and vilify those who disagree. Or we can choose to talk and to listen with care and humility, to seek deeper understanding and to meet one another with compassion.

"We can inflame an already volatile situation on our campus. Or we can focus our attention where it belongs on the unfolding tragedy thousands of miles away. 

"We can ask ourselves how, as human beings, we can be helpful to people who are desperately trying to protect themselves and their families. People who are fighting to survive."

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Gay ended her video by saying she has seen the Harvard community "come together despite their differences" in the past, and she knows they are capable of meeting this moment and one another "with grace."

As of Thursday night, more than 2,800 Israelis and Palestinians have been killed since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Saturday. The death toll is expected to rise as Israeli forces reportedly prepare for a ground invasion of Gaza.