Syria's transitional government triggered the country's largest wave of protests since the fall of Bashar al-Assad by announcing a midnight fuel price hike — raising diesel by 40 percent and oil and gas prices by 25 percent — with no prior public consultation. Demonstrators blocked major highways between Damascus and Aleppo and in northeastern cities including Qamishli and Deir al-Zour by burning tyres, with some chanting for the energy minister's removal; protests later spread to Hama, Raqqa, and even Idlib, the transitional government's own stronghold. Transitional president Ahmed al-Sharaa framed the cuts as a departure from socialism toward a liberal, private-sector economy, but aid workers warn that most Syrians have no financial cushion to absorb the shock, with shop prices already rising by around 20 percent and knock-on costs hitting everything from transport to hospital treatment.