Israeli troops fatally shot a Palestinian who fired a gun at Israeli soldiers manning a West Bank checkpoint on Tuesday. The shooting of the unidentified 20-year-old man at a checkpoint between Tulkarem and Qalqiliya was the second death since three main Palestinian groups on Sunday declared a temporary halt to attacks on Israelis. On Monday, Palestinian gunmen killed a Bulgarian construction worker on an Israeli road project near the West Bank town of Yabed. Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, loosely linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon muted his criticism of the violence, noting that security responsibility was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun only on Monday morning. Israeli forces removed checkpoints and pulled back from the northern Gaza Strip Monday and agreed to return the West Bank town of Bethlehem to Palestinian control - crucial steps that advanced the "road map" to Palestinian statehood and raise hopes that 33 months of violence may be nearing an end. In another sign of easing tensions, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Sharon were to meet Tuesday - their third meeting since Abbas took his post. At the Tuesday Sharon-Abbas meeting, officials said the agenda would include security measures, along with Palestinian demands for the release of prisoners and further Israeli withdrawals from territory reoccupied since the start of fighting in September 2000, items in the road map plan. The Palestinian groups attached demands to their truce - ending Israeli military strikes, lifting roadblocks and releasing prisoners. Israel pledged to halt targeted attacks of wanted Palestinians in areas controlled by Palestinian police but threatened to resume its campaign if Palestinians fail to thwart attacks. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Ariel Sharon whispers to one of his aides, during the weekly Likud party meeting at the Knesset. (AFP/file/Gali Tibbon)