International status does not prevent de facto closure at Gibraltar

What if the Suez Canal were a separate territory comparable to Gibraltar?

Gibraltar is technically an international waterway, yet it can still be closed in practice, making the comparison more complicated than legal status alone.

Treating the Suez Canal as a separate territory raises a comparison with Gibraltar. The interesting complication is that Gibraltar is technically an international waterway yet can be closed in practice. Legal access and physical control can produce different answers at a maritime chokepoint.