JERUSALEM - Palestinian militants wounded two Israeli border policemen in a shooting attack on a military post near a West Bank shrine today, the latest attempt to disrupt a delicate cease-fire.

Despite the violence, both sides said progress has been made on transferring West Bank cities to Palestinian security control, after weeks of deadlock over whether Israel would remove army roadblocks outside the towns as part of such a pullback. The Palestinians had insisted on the removal of roadblocks, which have severely disrupted daily life in the West Bank in more than four years of fighting.

The town of Tulkarem was to be transferred Tuesday, with the army removing a road barrier that separated Tulkarem from the West Bank's largest city, Nablus, Palestinian security officials said. However, the main army checkpoint outside Tulkarem will remain in place, the officials said.

Israeli army officials said the tentative agreement still requires government approval.

The Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas were to meet Tuesday to discuss the handover of West Bank towns, the highest-level negotiations over the issue.

Today's shooting took place in the West Bank city of Hebron, at a checkpoint guarding the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine revered by Muslims and Jews. One of the border policemen was seriously wounded. The army said the shots came from the Hebron city center, and that troops were searching for the attackers.

Since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas declared an end to violence at a Feb. 8 summit, there has been a sharp drop in fighting. But sporadic violence has persisted. In the most dramatic instance, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed five Israelis outside a Tel Aviv nightclub on Feb. 25.

While failing to scuttle the truce, the suicide bombing prompted Israel to freeze plans to turn over security control in five West Bank towns.