LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil climbed towards $111 per barrel on Monday as fighting in Beirut and Gaza raised fears for the security of fuel supplies from the Middle East, helping stem a four-day decline in prices. Brent lost 4 percent last week on global economic uncertainty. But growing violence in parts of the Middle East, which supplies a third of the world's oil, has helped counter concerns over weaker fuel demand. Brent crude for December delivery rose 37 cents to $110.51 per barrel by 1200 GMT, recovering from a session low of $109.47, its weakest since October 4. U.S. oil was up 60 cents at $90.65, also bouncing back from an intraday trough of $89.49. Tensions surrounding Syria supported oil prices due to fears that violence from the 19-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Lebanon, with its combustible sectarian mix, is being dragged into the Syria crisis with its rival Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims fighting on opposite sides. Gunmen exchanged fire in Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, wounding five people, while protesters blocked roads with burning tires following the assassination of a security official last week. Many politicians have accused Syria of being behind the killing. Lebanon's army said it would take "decisive measures" to prevent chaos in areas of high tension. "Lebanon has now become a new seat of unrest," said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "(The tensions) destabilize the whole region and therefore have an impact on oil transportation, especially the oil from northern Iraq, which is transported through pipelines over the crisis region," Fritsch said. Elsewhere Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants during an incursion in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday that touched off clashes with gunmen from the governing Hamas movement, local officials said. STRONG SUPPLY Fritsch said investors were buying back oil after prices had fallen for four consecutive sessions, also supporting prices. Speculators increased their net long positions in both Brent crude and gasoil futures and options for a third straight week, data published by the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) showed on Monday. But geopolitical tensions are playing out against a weak global economic backdrop that weighed down other commodities on Monday and limited gains in oil. London copper touched a one-month low, following other financial markets after a bigger-than-expected fall in Japan's exports dented appetite for riskier assets. The Chinese economy could stage a feeble rebound in the fourth quarter on higher public infrastructure spending, although growth will remain lethargic through 2013, a Reuters poll of economists showed. Ample supply of oil, coupled with this bleak economic outlook, could pose a risk to oil prices. "There is more focus on potentially strong supply growth going forward" said Filip Petersson, an analyst at SEB. "There are also concerns about (demand) growth in more or less all regions except the United States at the moment." (Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr in Singapore; Editing by Anthony Barker)

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