NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices are climbing after Israeli troops fired on crowds in Gaza surging toward the border fence, killing one Palestinian and wounding 19.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 31 cents to $87.69 per barrel at 10 a.m. EST on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Friday's killing is the first violence since a truce between Israel and the militant Hamas group was reached two days ago. That cease-fire agreement has helped ease the price of oil.
Israel launched an offensive on Nov. 14 to halt rocket fire from Gaza, unleashing some 1,500 airstrikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Hamas and other Gaza militants showered Israel with just as many rockets. The truce reached Wednesday had eased fears of a war that could broaden beyond Gaza and eventually disrupt oil supplies.
