Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came out on Saturday against Palestinian groups he said were encouraging youth to take part in an almost four-month long surge of violence with Israel which has raised concern of wider escalation a decade after the last Palestinian uprising subsided.

"All the nation and political parties are supporting the national uprising. But we support the peaceful national uprising," Abbas told journalists during a news conference.

Hours before, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead by an Israeli security guard she tried to stab at a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli police said.

The fatal incident on Saturday followed two stabbings this week inside settlements carried out by Palestinian teenagers, according to Israeli authorities.

Abbas condemned the recent surge of violence and warned that the people involved would be arrested.

"Anyone who wants to act against security using explosions, weapons or creating cells in any place will be arrested, no matter where he is going. Security measures have been taken following my orders," Abbas said.

Abbas has come under fierce criticism from rivals, including Islamist Hamas which calls forIsrael's destruction, for ongoing security coordination with Israel in cracking down on militant cells.

He said those actions were meant to prevent escalation.

"Up until this moment the coordination of security measures with Israel is continuing. And we are performing our duty as best as we can. Yes, we want to prevent any action that is intended to happen here and there. I won't allow anyone to drag me into a battle not of my choice, I do not want a military battle," Abbas said.

Since the start of October, Israeli forces have killed at least 149 Palestinians, 95 of them assailants according to authorities. Most of the others have died in violent protests. Almost daily stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians have killed 25 Israelis and one U.S. citizen.

Many of the Palestinian assailants have been teenagers.

The bloodshed has been fuelled by various factors including frustration over the 2014 collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the growth of Jewish settlements on land Palestinians seek for an independent state.

Palestinian leaders have said that with no breakthrough on the horizon, desperate youngsters see no future ahead. Israel says young Palestinians are being incited to violence by their leaders, including Abbas, and Islamist groups.