GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Amid Israeli criticism they were not taking strong enough action to end violence, Palestinian security forces yesterday briefly detained three leaders of a small militant faction responsible for an attack that wounded two Israeli soldiers.

The arrests of three officials from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) marked the first such detentions since new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was elected last month.

But the three men were released after five hours, party officials said.

Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, dismissed the arrests as merely an attempt to give the impression the Palestinians were "taking the fight against terrorists and terrorism seriously" before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in the region today and before a Middle East summit Tuesday in Egypt.

Israel has demanded the Palestinians begin arresting militants and make efforts to disrupt their weapons-smuggling and weapons-manufacturing infrastructure.

"This is still something that has not happened," Shoval said.

Palestinian forces deployed throughout the Gaza Strip late last month to prevent rocket attacks on Israeli targets, but Abbas has refused to crack down on militant groups, choosing to negotiate with them instead. Abbas has recently won promises from the militants to halt attacks against Israelis but only if Israel promises to stop military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

The DFLP claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday near the Kissufim border crossing into Israel that lightly wounded two soldiers and left the attacker dead.

Saleh Zeidan, a DFLP official, accused Palestinian officials of caving in to Israeli pressure with the detentions of Issam Abu Daqqa, Talal abu Zarifa and Ziyad Jarjhoun. The three members of the group's central committee were picked up by security forces in the southern Gaza refugee camp of Khan Younis.

In a pre-summit gesture to Abbas, Israel approved the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners and agreed to withdraw troops from Jericho, the first of five West Bank towns Israel is expected to leave. A first batch of 500 prisoners was expected to be freed after the summit, with 400 to follow during the next three months.

Palestinian officials, however, said the gestures were insufficient, and they were pushing for a broader prisoner release. Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated yesterday in Gaza City for the release of more prisoners.

Abbas is under enormous domestic pressure to secure freedom for the estimated 8,000 prisoners held by Israel. It is among the most emotive issues for ordinary Palestinians, many of whom have relatives in Israeli jails and see their release as a sign of peace and goodwill.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat and Dov Weisglass, a top Sharon aide, were to meet last night to try to resolve the disagreements, Palestinian officials said.

Material from The New York Times and Reuters is included in this report.