But just where the group's leaders have gone and what they are up to is a different matter. At least one Hamas leader, while keeping a low profile, is still in town, and still answering his phone.

"No one is here anymore," said the Hamas leader, whose nom de guerre is Abu Bilal, when called recently at his home here. "Now leave us alone."

Such is the essential contradiction underlying recent declarations by Palestinian leaders that, at the behest of the Syrian government, they have closed the headquarters of at least 10 militant groups bent on waging war against Israel.

The closing of the offices is regarded by American officials as an important test of the willingness of Syrian leaders to modify their historic hostility toward Israel. Syria's actions are being watched with particular interest as the Bush administration pursues its most ambitious Middle East diplomatic initiative to date, the so-called road map.

The two largest militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, recently agreed to a cease-fire. Still, the Bush administration, evidently preparing itself for the day the cease-fire ends, made 10 groups here targets for closure.

While it is clear that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have indeed closed their doors in recent weeks, it is much less apparent that they have ceased the activities that prompted the American demands in the first place. Palestinian leaders say most of the senior commanders of the groups are still in Syria, or planning to return soon.

Visits to the offices of five of the largest groups revealed them to be in various states of being closed. While Hamas and Islamic Jihad were closed, three other groups — the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command — were open, with staff members working inside.

A Western diplomat here, speaking on the condition of anonymity, maintained that, offices or not, the Palestinian militants were still engaging in activities intended to bring about military strikes against Israel.

"While there has certainly been a diminution of activity," the diplomat said, "there is still evidence that operational activity is continuing of a terrorist nature.

"As long as some of these leaders have a cellphone and a laptop, they will be able to operate," the diplomat said.

For their part, Syria's leaders say they want to secure a larger say in how the current peace plan unfolds. They are especially interested in winning back in future negotiations the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

Syrian officials insist that the decision to close the offices was made by the militants themselves. "They said they were going to close their offices down, and that is what has happened," said Dr. Buthaina Shabaan, the spokeswoman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

One senior Palestinian leader said the groups decided to shut their offices six weeks ago, after their leaders were summoned by the Syrian foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa. He said that the minister said the Americans were applying severe pressure, not just over the offices but over the suspicion that senior members of Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq had taken refuge in the country. Indeed, at the time of the meeting, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had just recently met with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. 

Khaled al-Fahoum, a senior Palestinian leader who is unaffiliated with any of the 10 groups, said it was the perception of the participants that the foreign minister was convinced that, after years of asking the Syrians to close the offices, this time the Americans were serious.

"He never asked them to leave, he just told them not to be active," said Mr. Fahoum.

The leaders of the militant groups, grateful for Syria's many years of support, agreed to close their offices and disappear — but not necessarily to leave the country. Some of them, like Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalid Meshal of Hamas, are said to have left Syria, but Mr. Fahoum said it was his understanding that none of them were leaving for good.

"The leaders are all still in their houses," Mr. Fahoum said. "All of them."

Like the office once operated by Hamas, an apartment used as an office by leaders of Islamic Jihad in a Damascus neighborhood appeared to have been abandoned. On the second floor of an apartment building, the door was answered by a Palestinian man named Akram Abdul Moti.

Mr. Moti, a student of Islamic law, said he and four of his friends had taken over the apartment about six weeks ago. Mr. Moti said he did not realize who had occupied the three-bedroom flat before him until his phone began to ring with callers asking for Islamic Jihad.

"We always hung up the phone," Mr. Moti said.

A short time later, Mr. Moti said, a man wearing a suit and tie showed up at his door and asked if anyone had left telephone messages for the group. Mr. Moti said no, and the man went away.

Though neither Mr. Moti nor any of his roommates claim membership in Islamic Jihad, he, like many others in the neighborhood here, said he approved of the bombing campaign the group had mounted against Israel. He said Islamic Jihad enjoyed widespread support among the 400,000 Palestinians who live in Syria, many of whom live in the crowded apartments of the Damascus suburbs.

"Yes, they kill civilians," Mr. Moti said, standing in his doorway. "But Sharon does, too."

While the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad appear to have been vacated, the offices of some of the other militant groups are buzzing with activity.

On a recent weekday here, the headquarters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of those groups, was full of young men, some coming and going, others milling about. The walls outside the offices were adorned with posters memorializing Palestinian men who have been killed by Israeli soldiers.

No one of those in attendance would identify himself, nor would they allow a visitor to come inside. One of the men there, who referred to himself as "Allah," explained that the office was closed.

"It's become a sport club," he said.

As the activity there suggested, the task of stopping the operations of these groups might be more complicated than just shutting their offices. For instance, in addition to waging an armed struggle against Israel, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine also operates a research library, another one for children and a school for the deaf. The school for the deaf, the group's leaders say, is financed by Japan. 

"We do two things," said Mutasem Hamada, a leader of the Democratic Front, in an interview in the organization's office. "There is the armed struggle, and then there is our cultural and humanitarian work."