TUNISIA. Gabes. October 21, 2025. A general strike brought Gabès to a standstill following a call from the UGTT trade union. Shops, schools, and markets closed their doors as residents took to the streets to demand the shutdown or dismantling of the most polluting industrial units. For several months, cases of poisoning and asphyxiation have been on the rise, particularly among children exposed to toxic emissions from the factories of the Tunisian Chemical Group, whose phosphate processing activities ,producing phosphoric acid and fertilizers ,continue to severely harm public health.