Hamas on Wednesday buried two of its terrorists killed in a tunnel collapse, amid growing concerns in Israel over the rebuilding of underground attack tunnels for use against Israeli civilians. 

The Islamist terror movement that runs Gaza said the two men killed in Tuesday night’s tunnel collapse belonged to its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Hundreds of men, many armed and wearing balaclavas, took part in the funeral.

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, called the two men “martyrs” and praised “those who work silently underground for us to live in dignity on earth.”

The collapse came just one week after an even deadlier accident in another terror tunnel, in which seven Hamas terrorists were killed.

Israeli concerns increased on Friday after Haniyeh, in comments at the seven men’s funeral, boasted that Hamas is developing its military capabilities and rebuilding the underground tunnels leading from Gaza to Israel. 

But Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official, on Wednesday toned down the rhetoric with a statement on the Hamas website denying comments attributed to him that the tunnels had already reached into Israeli territory.

“The resistance tunnels are defensive tunnels for the protection of our people in the face of any Israeli aggression,” he claimed. 

Hamas is believed to be working hard to rebuild its network of tunnels – including attack tunnels into Israel and smuggling tunnels to and from Egypt – which were largely destroyed during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that “if we are attacked from tunnels from the Gaza Strip, we will take very strong action against Hamas.”

AFP contributed to this report.