WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices were up over 2 percent on Monday, after having jumped nearly 9 percent last week on worries about Israel's potential retaliation against Iran for a missile attack.
Benchmark Brent crude futures jumped a little over 2 percent to $79.64 a barrel in European trade while WTI crude futures were up 2.3 percent at $76.08.
It is feared that a broader regional conflict in the Middle East could lead to long-term disruptions in the oil markets.
Today marks a year after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, which led to its retaliation in Gaza.
While neither of the sides in the war are major crude producers, traders are weighing up the chances of the crisis broadening to other countries in the region, with the United States, Israel's superpower ally, and Iran likely to be sucked into a wider war in the oil-producing Middle East.
Hezbollah rockets hit Israel's third largest city Haifa early today. Israeli military said that air raid sirens were activated in central Israel after rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip.
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