Gaza's streets were empty as the majority of stores remained closed and most of the Strip's residents were glued to their televisions screens, watching the events unfold of the violent dispersal by the Egyptian army of the Muslim Brotherhood's camps in Nahda and Rabia al-Adawiya squares in Cairo on the morning of Aug. 14.

A surgeon named Talal al-Sharif, 59, was unable to leave his patients, so he simply watched television in the clinic's waiting room along with his colleagues. Everyone expressed their opinion on what was happening, and the likely international reactions that would follow.

Sharif told Al-Monitor that their interest in the fate of the Muslim Brotherhood — which, surprisingly, took the reins of power in the Arab world after the recent spate of revolutions — stems from Gaza's proximity to Egypt and the fact that both were ruled by the same group. This lends a special urgency to events now unfolding in Egypt for Gazans, in comparison to residents of other countries.

Abu Ahmad, 45, works in the basement of the Al-Khazandar building. As he started his antiquated computer, employees from neighboring offices formed a circle around him to follow the live stream of one of the Egyptian television channels.