JERUSALEM

Jewish groups on Tuesday called on Muslims to evacuate East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday to allow them to mark the Jewish Passover holiday.

Posters left at one of the compound’s gates said the move aims to allow Jews “to sacrifice the Passover offering”.

“This is in favor of carrying out the Jewish religious obligation, which is to sacrifice the Passover offering on the Temple Mount [Aqsa compound],” the poster reads.

This is not the first time similar posters placed on at the doors of the Al-Aqsa Mosque before the Jewish Passover, which falls on March 30 until April 7.

Passover, which commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt during the time of Prophet Moses, is considered one of the most important holidays on the Jewish religious calendar.

Over the past week, Jewish settler groups have called on followers to converge on the Al-Aqsa compound in large numbers to mark the holiday.

Last year, more than 1,500 extremist Jewish settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Passover.

For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.