An ailing Yasser Arafat left his battered West Bank compound in a Jordanian helicopter today heading to Paris for urgent medical treatment, leaving behind the sandbagged headquarters that had been his virtual prison for nearly three years.

Wearing a gray fur hat and an olive-colored jacket, Arafat, 75, climbed aboard the helicopter as dozens of bodyguards and supporters chanted, "With our spirit and our blood, we will redeem you, Arafat." Arafat was pale and jaundiced.

The Palestinian leader's departure a decade after he arrived in the West Bank with the promise of statehood could mark the end of an era. Arafat, who hoarded power and declined to groom a successor, leaves behind a people in disarray.

Blood tests revealed he had a low platelet count, though it was unclear what caused the ailment, his doctors said, ruling out leukemia. In deference to his deteriorating condition, Israel lifted its travel ban on Arafat, allowing him to leave his headquarters compound in Ramallah for the first time since 2002 and to return if he recovers.

Arafat was permitted to fly in a Jordanian helicopter for one day in 2002 to view the aftermath of an Israeli siege, but he hasn't traveled abroad since visiting Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in November 2001.

Two camouflaged Jordanian helicopters landed outside Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah at sunrise today. Overnight, bulldozers had cleared a makeshift landing pad in the courtyard, pushing aside wrecked cars and rubble, reminders of previous Israeli military raids.

Dozens of people, many of them in military-style uniforms and green berets, whistled and chanted as they ran alongside two limousines and an ambulance carrying Arafat and his aides to the helicopters. Arafat was flying first to Jordan, where he was to board a plane sent by French President Jacques Chirac to fly him to Paris.

Reporters at the gates of Jordan's Marka Military Airbase saw a convoy of 19 cars carrying the Palestinian, French, Egyptian and Algerian ambassadors and the U.N. chief delegate in Jordan into the base under a light drizzle.

Palestinians across the Middle East anxiously monitored Arafat's health Thursday, but there was no mass vigil around his compound or any other public displays of support.

"I pray to God to save him because we need him, he is the safety valve for everything here, he is the father of all the Palestinians," said Imad Samara, 38, a teacher from Gaza City.

In a rare show of Palestinian unity, the militant group Hamas said today it was setting aside its differences with Arafat and wished him a quick recovery.

Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, called for the "formation of a united national leadership" and preparations for general elections. In the past, Hamas said it wanted nothing to do with the Palestinian Authority, a product of peace deals with Israel.

Palestinian officials tried to play down Arafat's health problems on Thursday, saying he performed Muslim prayers before dawn and ate a light breakfast of cornflakes and milk.

They released a brief video and two photos showing him sitting in a chair, wearing blue pajamas and a dark stocking cap and smiling broadly as he posed with his doctors Thursday afternoon. In the video, he holds two of his doctors' hands and leans over to kiss one of them.

Dr. Ashraf Kurdi said there was no immediate threat to Arafat's life. "His condition is good, his spirits are high," Kurdi said.

But the seriousness of his condition was underscored by the rushed arrival of Arafat's wife, Suha, 41, who lives in Paris with their young daughter and has not seen her husband since 2001. A close associate said Arafat spent most of Thursday sleeping.