An Israeli court here ordered them detained for questioning in the killing of the dealer, Farid Bashiti, 70, an East Jerusalem resident, whose bludgeoned and bound body was found last Friday in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Ramallah.

The killing followed an announcement by the Palestinian Authority on May 5 that it would impose the death sentence on Palestinians convicted of selling land to Jews.

An Israeli police spokesman identified the male suspect as Nasser al-Anani, an officer in the Ramallah police who lives in Jerusalem. The woman was identified as Nadia Dabash, 33, a real estate agent from Jerusalem.

Palestinians said Mr. Anani, 36, was a lawyer employed by the Ramallah police. Questioned by reporters as he was led into court, he denied that he had taken Mr. Bashiti to Ramallah and said he did not know who had. His lawyer said that his client was not involved in the killing. Miss Dabash made no statement.

Mr. Bashiti's body was found hours after he met Miss Dabash at a Jerusalem hotel for what his relatives said was a business appointment. Israeli security officials said they suspected that Mr. Bashiti had been lured to Ramallah, where he was killed by Palestinian security men.

''The investigation points in the direction of involvement in one form or another of the Palestinian Authority,'' said the chief of the Jerusalem police, Yair Yitzhaki.

Palestinian security officials have denied any connection to the slaying, and Mr. Bashiti's relatives said it might have been related to a personal dispute.

The killing came several days after the Palestinian Authority's Justice Minister, Freih Abu Middein, announced that swift death sentences would be imposed on Arabs convicted of selling land to Jews.

''Apparently the order led to the killing,'' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said today. ''We protest this vehemently.''

In Israel, Palestinians cannot buy state land, which is 91 percent of the country's territory, and state land held by the Jewish National Fund cannot even be leased to Israeli Arabs.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the decision to impose the death sentence had ''no place within the current peace process, wherein all of the parties are committed to work toward peace in an environment free of threats and intimidation.''

The decision to punish Arabs who sell land to Israelis was made at a meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet on May 2 in an effort to combat the spread of Jewish settlements.

Dennis Ross, the Clinton Administration's envoy to the Middle East, has been meeting this week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to restart negotiations that ended after Israel ordered work to start on a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians insist that Israel stop its settlement work first, while the Israelis have demanded stronger Palestinian action to fight terrorism. A meeting between Israeli and Palestinian representatives on Wednesday ended inconclusively, and Mr. Ross is expected to leave Israel on Friday after meeting with Mr. Netanyahu and Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader.