JERUSALEM — Israel accused Iran on Saturday of ordering attacks by the Palestinian militant group that took responsibility for a heavy barrage of rocket fire from Gaza overnight.

Israel responded to the attacks on its southern territory, which were claimed by the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with retaliatory airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza. No fatalities were reported on either side.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israel military spokesman, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force had communicated directly with Islamic Jihad, a mostly Iranian financed extremist group in Gaza, and had ordered and orchestrated the rocket fire.

“We do not take that lightly,” Colonel Conricus said, adding that Israel had passed messages through third parties warning that any Israeli response would not necessarily be “confined to geographic areas,” meaning that it could extend beyond Gaza.