Thousands of residents in Gabes, a southern Tunisian city, took to the streets on Wednesday in a massive demonstration demanding the shutdown of a local chemical complex. The protest follows a series of alarming health incidents, including numerous cases of intoxication and fainting spells, particularly among schoolchildren living near the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT), a major producer of phosphate-based fertilizers. Social media footage captured harrowing scenes of unconscious individuals being carried by firefighters and treated with oxygen masks. A local official reported that 122 people required medical attention, with symptoms ranging from suffocation to leg pain and numbness. This marks the third such incident since early September, reigniting long-standing grievances over environmental pollution caused by the plant. Residents have long accused GCT of contaminating beaches, groundwater, and air, leading to respiratory illnesses and a spike in cancer rates in an already impoverished community. The protest, organized by the Stop Pollution collective, saw chants of ‘Gabes wants to breathe!’ and ‘We have the right to live in a clean city!’ Tunisians nationwide expressed solidarity online using the hashtag ‘We are all Gabes.’ However, the demonstration was met with heavy-handed police intervention, including the use of teargas, which caused additional injuries. The crackdown has drawn widespread condemnation, with activists decrying the disproportionate response to a peaceful movement. Environmental protests in Tunisia have increasingly faced repression, particularly since President Kais Saied’s 2021 power consolidation. While Saied has criticized the plant’s poor maintenance and pledged to promote a ‘green Tunisia,’ the government remains conflicted due to phosphate’s economic significance. Despite a 2017 commitment to phase out the Gabes plant, recent policy shifts have reclassified phosphogypsum, a hazardous byproduct, as exploitable under certain conditions. Saied has also ordered a significant increase in fertilizer production to capitalize on global market trends, further complicating the path to environmental justice.