The cast-iron gate that guards the offices of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that has operated for years in an apartment building here, is locked tight, in apparent compliance with a longstanding American demand. 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. Full Story