<P> U.S. President Obama acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself, but urged restraint by both sides . Meanwhile, the United States Congress expressed vigorous support for Israel . It passed legislation providing Israel with an additional $225 million in military aid for missile defense with a bipartisan 395 - 8 vote in the House of Representatives and by unanimous consent in the Senate . This was in addition to strong measures supporting Israel's position passed with overwhelming support in both houses . Israel received strong statements of bipartisan support from the leadership and members of both houses of Congress for its actions during the conflict . </P> <P> During the U.S. Presidential campaigns of 2016, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders criticized Israel for its treatment of Gaza, and in particular criticized Netanyahu for "overreacting" and causing unnecessary civilian deaths . In April 2016 the Anti-Defamation League called on Sanders to withdraw remarks he made to the New York Daily News, which the ADL said exaggerated the death toll of the 2014 Israel--Gaza conflict . Sanders said "over 10,000 innocent people were killed", a number far in excess of Palestinian or Israel sources' estimates . In response, Sanders said that he accepted a corrected number of the death toll as 2,300 during the course of the interview, which was taped, and that he would make every effort to set the record straight . The written transcript of the interview failed to note that Sanders said "Okay" to the corrected number presented by the interviewer during the course of the interview . </P> <P> On 6 August 2014, thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza in support of Hamas, they demanded an end to the blockade of Gaza . After the 26 August ceasefire, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a poll in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip: 79% of respondents said that Hamas had won the war and 61% said that they would pick Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as the Palestinian president, up from 41% before the war . </P> <P> According to The Washington Post, a percentage of Gazans held Hamas accountable for the humanitarian crisis and wanted the militants to stop firing rockets from their neighborhoods to avoid Israeli reaction . Some of the Gazans have attempted to protest against Hamas, which routinely accuses protesters of being Israeli spies and has killed more than 50 such protesters . Around 6 August, Palestinian protesters reportedly attacked and beat up Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri because they blamed Hamas for inciting Operation Protective Edge . </P>

How have israeli and palestinian civilians been affected by the 2014 gaza conflict