As the conflict in Israel heated up, shares of the biggest military and defense contractors of NATO member states surged to new highs, off hopes they stood to benefit from the latest conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Among the US defense contractors to see their stocks jump was US contractor Lockheed Martin, which makes HIMARS rocket launchers. Its shares rose 8.3% in response to the conflict. Northrop Grumman added 10.6%. RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corp rose nearly 4%, “amid expectations of increased defense spending,” as Victoria Scholar, the head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor described it.

Among EU defense companies, Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab saw its share price rise over 8%. Rheinmetall, the German weapons manufacturer, saw its shares up 5.7%. BAE Systems, the UK arms maker was up 4.2%, and Italian helicopter manufacturer Leonardo was up 5.7%.

The latest outbreak of violence began on Saturday, when armed Palestinians stormed across the border with Gaza into Israeli settlements, launching a series of surprise attacks at several locations, killing Israelis and taking hostages back across the border into Gaza. Israel has launched a counteroffensive, named Operation Iron Swords, in response.

Israeli officials now estimate the attacks killed more than 1200 Israelis, with more than 2600 wounded, and more than 100 taken hostage, including European and American citizens. Palestinian officials estimate that Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 400 people, and wounded another 2,200.