GAZA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The deputy to Hamas's leader-in-exile has visited the Gaza Strip for the first time in nearly 20 years, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said on Saturday.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy to Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, entered the Hamas-controlled territory on Friday through the Rafah crossing with Egypt and left a few hours later, the officials said.

Most of Hamas's top leaders in Gaza remain in hiding to avoid being targeted by Israel after a 22-day offensive against the enclave's Islamist rulers.

Egypt has mostly kept its border with the Gaza Strip closed since Hamas seized the territory in 2007, only periodically allowing Palestinians to cross through for medical and humanitarian needs.

Hamas wants Egypt to open Rafah permanently to ease an Israel-led blockade, but under a U.S.-brokered agreement signed in November 2005, they cannot do so without the consent of Israel and Hamas-rival Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment on Marzouk's crossing. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Cynthia Johnston in Cairo, Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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