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JERUSALEM — A squatter village of homeless Israelis set up on a hill opposite the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem was destroyed by fire Tuesday. A dozen of the 18 wooden and tin structures burned to the ground, but the only casualty in the blaze was one rottweiler dog.

Police say the fire was probably caused by a careless inhabitant leaving on a kerosene heater, which sparked the blaze.

Fire and Rescue Department officials said residents would have to relocate temporarily. But when administrators from the capital's welfare department came to help the families move to temporary quarters, they were met by staunch opposition.

"The police say that maybe now it's worthwhile for us to go live with our families," said Michal Levy, "but we think that if we leave our encampment, which we've kept up for three years, the government will clear it up overnight. If we leave now, the entire three years will have gone down the drain."

Anger flowed through the crowd of squatters, as they watched firefighters pick through the rubble of their meager possessions looking for embers. Their fury was directed across the street, at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"He drives past practically everyday," said a woman who identified herself as Shula. "He ignores us. Does he ever think about how we live, how we die, if there are babies here among us? And we voted him in!"